Best way to clean dug lincoln cents?

[marchas]

Over the years, I've dug many very nice "wheaties". I really like to determine if
any of them are "good". I know that cleaning coins is generally a no-no. But, can
someone give me some ideas about the best way to clean them?

[coop]

Marchas: Welcome to coppercoins. I see it is your first post here....
On cleaning Cents there are a couple of things you can do. Wash and dry them with soap and water, again I can't tell you how important the drying is. If the coins are just dirty. Then use mineral oil on them or let them soak for a long time to see how they will look. If they are ruff in appearance all over the coin from being outside or just dark. Don't try to do anything else with them as, if you clean them in a copper cleaner the whole outer finish will fall off leaving an uglier copper look. I know I ruined one before by doing that.
But stick with the mineral oil soak for a while and see what happens. The mineral oil will not remove, rust/carbon spots/freckles/totally darkened coins. It is similiar to the lubricant that the coin gets from the mint and should not be harmful to the finish. Mineral oil can remove some tarnish but not all and if you try using it for too many times it will make the coin look an unatural color, but only after several applications. On ciruclated (circulated only) coins I use a childs worn out toothbrush that is very soft and when I say very soft, I mean a used one that is loosing it stiffness. A have a device A couple of pvc pipe fitting that hold an old prescription bottle) that I use to hold the toothbrush in with just a little mineral oil in so after brushing around numbers/letters I blot with a a facial tissue (not one with lotion in it) till it is dry, then re-check under the scope to see if it removed the gunk that I wanted. If not I go over it again lightly the second time to see if it is removed, if not, I figure I will have to leave it that way or try the mineral oil bath. But don't over do it. If there is globs of dirt/gunk on the coin, try washing it off first with soap and water and dry throughly. If it doesn't come off you might try a new/fresh thorn to remove the blob. Carefully as this might contain sand which will scratch your coin and we don't want that to happen. Again I stress the brush only on circulated coins. On BU coins this process can remove some of the surface turning a BU coin into a AU coin. You might apply mineral oil on a BU coin by rolling it on the surface with a Q-tip. Then blotting it dry with a tissue/paper towel. Not rough, just straight down pressure with your fingers/thumbs. There are other sugestions that others use, but the general rule of thumb is don't clean a coin. I think the mean with a cleaning solution such as copper cleaners/nothing abrasive (toothpase/soda/limeaway/ETC....)/jewelry cleaner is what happens to get to the color below, you have to remove a layer of finsh to get there. Tuning a VF coin into a much lower grade coin and the cleaned look is NOT what a collector wants. Most of the times I don't even consider a coin that has been cleaned as it will never look thay way it should again. Toning from the cleaning makes the coin an unatural color. Layers of coin finish is removed and turns the coin into a lower grade than what it was before cleaning.......
So if you are going to try a method of cleaning that I suggested, FIRST try it one a coin from change that is in the similar condition. Experiment on a coin worth a Cent, rather than using a coin that could have been worth a lot higher price.
So what ever you decide to do, try a single coin (Common Change) and see what happens before you go on to another coin. Don't try cleaning a bunch all at once. See if the process gives the desired results, even leaving the first coin to age a little to see what happens to it before going on to others. Hope this answers your question.

[marchas]

Thanks for the information Coop... Will try the mineral oil and see how it works. Can you tell me what a "new/clean thorn" is?

I noticed that some of my dug coins have a nice green patina, but still very legible. Is this green color a problem relating to the value? Again, thanks for your help.

[coop]

"New thorn" is from a plant that has them and is still moist and is more flexable that one that has dried and stiff. The freshness keeps from scratching the surface and is very small size that will clean out numbers/letters or next to the rim.
As for the green tarnish the mineral oil will cleanse but probably not remove the tarnish. Take a common/low value example to experiment with and see what happens.