pressed pennies - best before 198?/ clean w/vinegar?

[newholidayx2]

Starting to think about putting aside the best pennies for the pressed penny machines - whats the yr that we should collect? pre 198-?
and to clean - soak in vinegar? for how long?
thinking of starting out w/about 30pennies, (60quarters=$15)

thank you

 

[Metallica_Band]

I have some pennies and some other silver coins that have been pressed...Most are getting a green and/or white stuff on them...would vinegar work at cleaning them off?

And why doesn't this count as defacing currency??? Defacing currency is illegal from what I've heard...why is this excluded???

THANX
C'YA

 

[Atomant]

I use vinegar and salt mixed together make a form of Acetic acid. Works great to remove tarnish off pennies. Vinegar alone doesn't seem to be fast enough. Used this solution for many years after learning it from an old chem prof. Wash the pennies with clean water afterwards or the pennies will turn green.

 

[Dizzy for Dsny]

I've research and done it all (lemon juice, vinegar, copper cleaner, tabasco and taco sauce - yes your reading that right, salt with the lemon juice, but by far the best and easiest was toothpaste! I used crest whitening and sometimes dipped my toothbrush in salt as well and it was the fastest and also cleaned the best! Yes, its monatenous, but I can't get new rolls of pennies around here and I seem to forget until the last minute when I pull out my packing list. I also found they stay shinier longer. Sometimes, I put them in lemon juice first while I'm cleaning one at a time. Goes by quickly though!

 

[wanna-b-Tink]

I ruined some of our pressed pennies with vinegar. It ate right through them! I let them soak overnight because they were completely filthy, and it was the wrong thing to do...

 

[hiwaygal]

I believe I heard that pennies before 1982 don't have (or don't have as much) zinc in them which keeps the pennies from looking "striped" with silver.

Has anyone just used copper cleaner for their pennies?

 

[quiltymom]

I used the salt & vinegar treatment and it also ate through a penny! Scary...

I ended up using "Nevr Dull" polishing compound. It took forever, but the pennies looked mint new. DH thought I was insane (his words!), but I did it while watching tv.

Lemon juice works well, too. I wish I would've known this before polishing 50+ pennies the hard way! We went to a local high school for a science fair for elementary school kids, and they were doing this there! All it took was 20 minutes of soaking in the juice, and they were as clean & shiny as new. Give it a try!

 

[Jrsy Boy]

And why doesn't this count as defacing currency??? Defacing currency is illegal from what I've heard...why is this excluded???

I can't tell you exactly why, but if you read the front of the machine, it is probably posted on there. Since DS8 has taken an interest in pressed pennies, I have looked at a lot of the machines. They all seem to have a sticker explaining why it isn't illegal, but I haven't taken the time to memorize it yet. That may change after our trip.

 

[Metallica_Band]

maybe there's a small fine for each coin and that's why they're always like a buck to get a penny pressed...

 

[Jrsy Boy]

There is some good information on http://www.pressedpenny.com/faq.html

For example:
The United States Codes under Title 18, Chapter 17, and Section 331, "prohibits the mutilation, diminution and falsification of United States coinage." However, this statute does not prohibit the mutiliation of coins if done without fraudulent intent or use. In other words, YES, it's LEGAL!

Also, use pennies dated before 1982 so you don't get as much zinc.

There are a bunch of different cleaning options, too:
- use a pencil eraser with the pencil stuck into a power drill
- rub with ketchup followed by a paste of baking soda and water
- vinegar & salt or lemon juice & salt
- toothpaste

 

[Georgieut]

Starting to think about putting aside the best pennies for the pressed penny machines - whats the yr that we should collect? pre 198-?
and to clean - soak in vinegar? for how long?
thinking of starting out w/about 30pennies, (60quarters=$15)

thank you

I saw you said you may start out with 30 pennies. I found out that disney's press penny book hold 36 pennies. Just thought I would pass that along. My mom who is going on the trip with my family has cleaned pennies for 3 books but heck if I can remember what she used to clean them. I will have to find out. She said they turned out great though.

 

[coby421]

I went threw all my books and cleaned with a jewlery polishing cloth I had and they came out well. I have more recently tried coke (as in the cola) on a test penny and let it sit in it over night and it came out quite nice, so just another method to consider.

 

[Forevryoung]

If I start collecting one more thing my mother will scream

Any chance I could poke a hole in a pressed penny and then put a jumpring on it to use as a keychain?

 

[hiwaygal]

Yes, you can drill a small hole in the pennies to make a keychain or anything else. I think I read somewhere that someone uses them for ornaments...I think the tree would have to be kinda small, but that could be cute!

 

[laura001]

I cleaned pennies last night, tried the lemon juice and it was alright, but the toothpaste really brought them back to life!

 

[Disneymaddness]

I've been using Brasso to clean my pennies. It seems to work the best for me, they look great!

 

[Mitzi]

I'm amazed,I cleaned my pennies tonight, used vinegar and salt and they came out pretty good.. Would like to know where I could buy the books before I go..

 

[marthachick]

How much are the pressed penny books?

 

[Georgieut]

How much are the pressed penny books?

I can't remember just how much they were but 2 autograph books, 3 penny press books and 2 fat pens were $55. I want to say they were 8. We were just there the begining of the month. We pressed 117 pennies on our trip. It was great. They have new penny books for the 50th thing and they had places for 35 pennies and 6 places for pressed quarters too. Just remember when putting in the penny makesure the head side is facing the quater slots. Pressing the image on the face side turns out better than on the building side.

 

[Daisy'sMom]

How much are the pressed penny books?

$6.50