I would never ever tumble my good coins but glad I tried my grots

How to clean preserve your metal detecting finds.
Pasty
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Post by Pasty »

Was looking at methods for cleaning my coppers at the weekend and this method kept coming up . Being northern and tight Iโ€™m definitely gonna try and make one at the weekend .
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stubbie
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Post by stubbie »

Great stuff will be interesting to see how you get on ๐Ÿ‘
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Post by rossi46 »

I went with the supplied ball bearings, but they're a bit harsh, tbh.

Fair enough, my 14 coppers were all toasted but some you could clearly make out some detail. After tumbling them with bearings for 120 mins, they're clean but mostly blank [88/] [88/]

I'm going to try the fish tank gravel in the hope that it's not as abrasive.
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Post by stubbie »

Yes I've had a few toasted now but still worth it so far ๐Ÿ‘
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rossi46
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Post by rossi46 »

I brought home some course blasting sand from work today. I'm going to give these poor coins another beating [49/]

All in the name of experimentation and science, of course!
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Phil2401
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Post by Phil2401 »

I've had a go with my new toy also - the George V / VI coppers come up nice and shiny after 1.5 hours using the little steel balls and a splash of liquid soap, but I'm not sure that all those little pock marks on the surface of the coin were there prior to tumbling. I also chucked in a tiny brown encrusted thing which turns out to be a tiny silver thing - still no idea what it is.

Good fun though :)

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Post by stubbie »

Great work Phil especially when the coins are knackered ๐Ÿ‘ haven't tried the metal shot media yet but I might buy some and try although my fish tank grit has worked well
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Phil2401
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Post by Phil2401 »

I've just tumbled another handful of toasties and was surprised to find four George III halfpennies of varying age (one a Hibernian), a George IV farthing and what looks like a little Roman bronze. The larger one at the end I'm sure I've seen before - ship on one side and shield on t'other - jeton of some sort?

Anyway the point is, with limited experience so far I've found that one and a half hours using the steel media and a little of the supplied liquid soap brings out enough detail to enable ID, but doesn't ruin the coin. That's enough for me :)

I was looking at the instructions for polishing pebbles - takes over a week??? sod that!

Phil
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Post by rossi46 »

Nice one! I've decided against using the blasting sand as it's a bit vicious with the coin details [88/]

What speed are youse using? I've just been on the slowest setting.
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Post by stubbie »

good point on speed i have been doing mine on 3
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Post by rossi46 »

I'll put the ball bearings back in and turn the speed up then. 3rd time lucky [49/]
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Post by stubbie »

Will try and have a look not sure myself if slow is better than fast only one way to find I suppose ๐Ÿ˜
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Post by Phil2401 »

Trial and error [81/]

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Post by stubbie »

Had another go tonight not sure what the first coin is but a viccy turned up
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Rupert45
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Post by Rupert45 »

Sorry for the real basic question but was is tumbling ?? I have about 30 toasted coins which are no use as they are so worth a go if the pictures are anything to go by !
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