I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.

Soak them in ketchup, it has enough acid to shine them up in minutes.
"Blue" wrote in message ...
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.

Blue wrote:
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.




Do you know any ammo reloaders? Ask them to tumble them for about two
hours for you.

Bob

Blue wrote:
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.


Hi,
You can tumble in a bag of fine sand.
Tony

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:13:54 -0700, "Blue" wrote:

I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.

Got a Taco Bell nearby? Grab some handfuls of packets of their hot
sauce. Arby's sauce also works. Both are "free". Soak the pennies till
shiny, then dry. If you're adverse to expropriation try Louisiana Hot
Sauce or lemon juice, or any commercial metal polisher, or an eraser
(mount it on a drill or dremel to reduce carpal tunnel injury).

--
Luke
__________________________________________________ _________________
"This Republican Party of Lincoln has become a party of theocracy."
-- Christopher Shays (R-CT), March, 2005

"Blue" wrote in message ...
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.

Soak them in vinegar. Lemon juice works but is more expensive.

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message .. .

"Blue" wrote in message ...
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.

Soak them in vinegar. Lemon juice works but is more expensive.

A strong baking soda/water solution also works, and
is less corrosive than vinegar or lemon juice.

You'll only devalue them. Leave them alone and place them in your
"time capsule."

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:13:54 -0700, "Blue" wrote:

I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:13:54 -0700, "Blue" wrote:

I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.


Tumbling them in fine sand or baking soda seems to be the best
suggestions so far. I believe every country has a law that forbids
altering/defacing coin and money. Therefore any attempt to "gold" the
pennies must not be permanent. There might be a food grade gold
powder you can use.

"PaPaPeng" wrote in message ...
On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:13:54 -0700, "Blue" wrote:

I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.


Tumbling them in fine sand or baking soda seems to be the best
suggestions so far. I believe every country has a law that forbids
altering/defacing coin and money. Therefore any attempt to "gold" the
pennies must not be permanent. There might be a food grade gold
powder you can use.

Huh? If such a law exists I'd appreciate a reference to it.

I've seen all kinds of examples of altered coinage.. watches
made from half-dollars, etc.

Blue wrote:
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.


Cleaning them up won't make them resemble gold,
they will resemble copper, errr. they are copper.

If you want to take the tarnish off, any standard
hardwater cleaner will do it. Try CLR.

If you want gold color you need to paint them or
use a wash of some type. Check your local hobby
store, they may have a wash that works.

"Blue" wrote in message ...
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.

It takes more time than you are probably willing to invest, but if you chuck
up a wooden pencil in a 3/8 drill with the eraser end forward, then erase
all the tarnish. It would take several pencil to do a few hundred and some
time, but the eraser will brighten the penny.

Randy R. Cox

"Blue" wrote in message ...
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but
don't
know how to do it.



Pick up a few hundred US Eagles for the kiddies, ya cheap bastid.

On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 03:43:10 GMT, "Rick" wrote:

Huh? If such a law exists I'd appreciate a reference to it.


If you find one of those metal presses at an amusement arcade that is
used to squeeze pennies into thin long strips there will be a metal
plate that quotes this law. That is why they do not run sovereign
coins through that machine but will be quite willing to do so on a
coin from another country. The law is there although it is rarely if
ever enforced when coins are used for jewellery. In jewellery, if you
look closely at an American Gold Eagle for example, it will be an
imitation with obvious flaws such as poor image definition. To make an
indistinguishable copy is counterfieting. Real Gold Eagles are worth
far more in original condition anyway.

"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:13:54 -0700, "Blue" wrote:

I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but
don't
know how to do it.


Tumbling them in fine sand or baking soda seems to be the best
suggestions so far. I believe every country has a law that forbids
altering/defacing coin and money. Therefore any attempt to "gold" the
pennies must not be permanent. There might be a food grade gold
powder you can use.


I think he's just trying to make them shinier, not coat them with
gold-coloring.

Cleaning pennies is not defacing them; it's just cleaning them.

I think he should try each of the solutions offered. I used to get a kick
out of dipping a penny in Del Taco hot sauce so that one half was shiny and
one half was dirty. I was much younger then.

Blue wrote:
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.


You might check with the St. Francis hotel in San Francisco. I don't
know if they still do it, but they used to clean all of their coins
every night.

Jack

Martin Hirsch wrote:
Soak them in ketchup, it has enough acid to shine them up in minutes.
"Blue" wrote in message ...

I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.





TarnX. Works in seconds, and is available at H-D, most grocery stores,
etc.



--
If you find a posting or message from myself offensive,
inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it. If you don't know
how to ignore a posting,complain to me and I will demonstrate.

On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 02:58:42 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:


"Blue" wrote in message ...
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.

Soak them in vinegar. Lemon juice works but is more expensive.


My ten year old daughter chose this as her science experiment last
year. The lemon juice did a better job. Adding salt improves it also.
As an added little science tidbit, save the juice you used after you
clean the pennies. Put some nails or other iron items in the "dirty"
juice. It will actually slightly copper plate the nails.

Greg Guarino

Got a Taco Bell nearby? Grab some handfuls of packets of their hot
sauce.

heh I was going to recommend Chi-Chi's hot sauce.

Uhhh Hello, Pennies+Kids=Choking?
Just something to think about!

On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 04:31:13 GMT, "George E. Cawthon"
wrote:

Blue wrote:
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.


Cleaning them up won't make them resemble gold,
they will resemble copper, errr. they are copper.

If you want to take the tarnish off, any standard
hardwater cleaner will do it. Try CLR.

If you want gold color you need to paint them or
use a wash of some type. Check your local hobby
store, they may have a wash that works.

LOL, I'm thinking they will still be worth a penny each.

wrote in message
...
You'll only devalue them. Leave them alone and place them in your
"time capsule."

On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:13:54 -0700, "Blue" wrote:

I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but
don't
know how to do it.

I started learning coin magic a few months ago, and wanted to clean up
a bunch of tarnished coins.

Tried all the solutions mentioned he vinegar, ketchup, hot sauce,
plus Oxy Clean. None of them worked.

I picked up some Nevr-Dull at the hardware store. It's a wadding
soaked with tarnish remover. A couple of rubs and the coins were
shining like brand new.

I have found that lime removal chemicals such as Lime Away or CLR
work quite well at cleaning coins. A few Q-tips can be used to lightly
rub the faces of the coins to speed up the process. Rinse well.

That method and any other method of making a coin more shiny will
ruin the collectable value of the coin, but it doesn't sound as if that is
a concern for you.

More practically, why not put those cents (America does not mint "pennies")
in rolls, take them to the bank and request an equal number of rolls
of new cents? Now you have a few hundred extremely shiny coins
fresh from the mint.

What you are planning on doing for the children sound like fun. My
older cousin used to bury little pouches full of coins on my grandfather's
property and every once in a while he would give a treasure map to one
or more of us younger children. This was a lot of exciting fun for us.

Good luck,
Gideon

PS: Yes, I also called them pennies, but I avoid that term when I am
around fellow coin collectors. By traditional definition, one penny is
a monetary unit of the United Kingdom and is worth one hundredth
of a pound. A cent is defined as one hundredth of a dollar for the U.S.
and for some other nations whose primary monetary unit is called
"one dollar."

PaPaPeng wrote
I believe every country has a law that forbids altering/defacing
coin and money. Therefore any attempt to "gold" the pennies
must not be permanent.

========

This is only partially true. In the U.S., coins cannot be defaced
or altered in a manner which is fraudulent. Many years ago,
this would have included shaving bits of silver or gold from coins
and then passing them on in circulation. This also covered
the practice many years ago of gold plating one version of the
American nickel so that it could be passed off as a $5 gold coin.
Modifying mint marks or dates on coins would be one of the more
common fraudulent defacing practices these days.

The paragraph below is from the U.S. Treasury website:

http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/c...aits.shtml#q13

Is it illegal to damage or deface coins?

Section 331 of Title 18 of the United States code provides criminal
penalties for anyone who "fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates
impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins
coined at the Mints of the United States." This statute means that
you may be violating the law if you change the appearance of the
coin and fraudulently represent it to be other than the altered coin
that it is. As a matter of policy, the U.S. Mint does not promote
coloring, plating or altering U.S. coinage: however, there are no
sanctions against such activity absent fraudulent intent.


Gideon

"Martin Hirsch" wrote in message
news:lJkve.141275$sy6.105164@lakeread04...
Soak them in ketchup, it has enough acid to shine them up in minutes.
"Blue" wrote in message
...
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but
don't know how to do it.

If OP wants them to look like gold, Use Rub and Buff Gold. Used for redoing
cabinet handles and knobs. Some hardware and lumber yards stock this item. W
W

I vote for the tarn-X also. Works like magic. I use on on copper pots
"Gort" wrote in message
...
Martin Hirsch wrote:
Soak them in ketchup, it has enough acid to shine them up in minutes.
"Blue" wrote in message
...

I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but
don't know how to do it.





TarnX. Works in seconds, and is available at H-D, most grocery stores,
etc.



--
If you find a posting or message from myself offensive,
inappropriate, or disruptive, please ignore it. If you don't know
how to ignore a posting,complain to me and I will demonstrate.

The tumble theirs.

"Jack Sandweiss" wrote in message
...
Blue wrote:
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but
don't
know how to do it.


You might check with the St. Francis hotel in San Francisco. I don't
know if they still do it, but they used to clean all of their coins
every night.

Jack

"Gideon" wrote in message .. .
The paragraph below is from the U.S. Treasury website:

http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/c...aits.shtml#q13

Is it illegal to damage or deface coins?

Section 331 of Title 18 of the United States code provides criminal
penalties for anyone who "fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates
impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the coins
coined at the Mints of the United States." This statute means that
you may be violating the law if you change the appearance of the
coin and fraudulently represent it to be other than the altered coin
that it is. As a matter of policy, the U.S. Mint does not promote
coloring, plating or altering U.S. coinage: however, there are no
sanctions against such activity absent fraudulent intent.

Thanks, that's what I thought.

The paragraph below is from the U.S. Treasury website:

http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/c...aits.shtml#q13

Is it illegal to damage or deface coins?

Section 331 of Title 18 of the United States code provides criminal
penalties for anyone who "fraudulently alters, defaces, mutilates
impairs, diminishes, falsifies, scales, or lightens any of the
coins
coined at the Mints of the United States." This statute means that
you may be violating the law if you change the appearance of the
coin and fraudulently represent it to be other than the altered
coin
that it is. As a matter of policy, the U.S. Mint does not promote
coloring, plating or altering U.S. coinage: however, there are no
sanctions against such activity absent fraudulent intent.


The term, "You're Joshing me" came from San Francisco gold days. A deaf
mute named Josh would gold clad coins that had a V on the back. He would
just hand them to the merchant, and they would give him change for $5. In
those days, coins weren't as standardized, and a lot of different coins were
used.

He did no time because the merchants made the mistake and gave him the wrong
change, and he never represented the coin to be $5.

Steve

"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:13:54 -0700, "Blue" wrote:

I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but
don't
know how to do it.


Tumbling them in fine sand or baking soda seems to be the best
suggestions so far. I believe every country has a law that forbids
altering/defacing coin and money. Therefore any attempt to "gold" the
pennies must not be permanent. There might be a food grade gold
powder you can use.


Huuuu I can see the FBI and the Treasury being all over this lady for gold
plating a dozen pennies, bury them in a box to have some fun with her
children's.

MG

In article , Blue wrote:

I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.

Put them in vinegar and sprinkle salt of them.

djb

--
~ Stay Calm... Be Brave... Wait for the Signs ~
------------------------------------------------------
One site: http://www.balderstone.ca
The other site, with ww linkshttp://www.woodenwabbits.com

"Blue" wrote in message ...
I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but don't
know how to do it.

Forget the pennies and pick up some fake gold coins from a party supply
store...You might even find a treasure chest there too...

wrote in message
news
I started learning coin magic a few months ago, and wanted to clean up
a bunch of tarnished coins.

Tried all the solutions mentioned he vinegar, ketchup, hot sauce,
plus Oxy Clean. None of them worked.

I picked up some Nevr-Dull at the hardware store. It's a wadding
soaked with tarnish remover. A couple of rubs and the coins were
shining like brand new.

I guarantee that sulfuric acid will work. That's what they use in the
electronics biz.....

"Ross Mac" wrote in news:ItednXkkR4-
:


wrote in message
news
I started learning coin magic a few months ago, and wanted to clean up
a bunch of tarnished coins.

Tried all the solutions mentioned he vinegar, ketchup, hot sauce,
plus Oxy Clean. None of them worked.

I picked up some Nevr-Dull at the hardware store. It's a wadding
soaked with tarnish remover. A couple of rubs and the coins were
shining like brand new.

I guarantee that sulfuric acid will work. That's what they use in the
electronics biz.....




try Tarn-X,available in most drugstores and supermarkets.It works fast.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Jim Yanik wrote:
"Ross Mac" wrote in news:ItednXkkR4-
:


wrote in message
news
I started learning coin magic a few months ago, and wanted to clean up
a bunch of tarnished coins.

Tried all the solutions mentioned he vinegar, ketchup, hot sauce,
plus Oxy Clean. None of them worked.

I picked up some Nevr-Dull at the hardware store. It's a wadding
soaked with tarnish remover. A couple of rubs and the coins were
shining like brand new.

I guarantee that sulfuric acid will work. That's what they use in the
electronics biz.....





try Tarn-X,available in most drugstores and supermarkets.It works fast.


I still say tumbling them in a brass tumbler for abour 2 hours would be
the easiest, and it won't just take the tarnish off, it will polish the
coins to a high finish -- especially with treated corncob tumbling media.

Bob

zxcvbob wrote in :

Jim Yanik wrote:
"Ross Mac" wrote in news:ItednXkkR4-
:


wrote in message
news
I started learning coin magic a few months ago, and wanted to clean up
a bunch of tarnished coins.

Tried all the solutions mentioned he vinegar, ketchup, hot sauce,
plus Oxy Clean. None of them worked.

I picked up some Nevr-Dull at the hardware store. It's a wadding
soaked with tarnish remover. A couple of rubs and the coins were
shining like brand new.

I guarantee that sulfuric acid will work. That's what they use in the
electronics biz.....





try Tarn-X,available in most drugstores and supermarkets.It works fast.


I still say tumbling them in a brass tumbler for abour 2 hours would be
the easiest, and it won't just take the tarnish off, it will polish the
coins to a high finish -- especially with treated corncob tumbling media.

Bob


Buying a bottle of Tarn-X is a lot cheaper;a couple of dollars,-especially
if you don't have a tumbler and polishing medium(like most people).
Also faster;Tarn-X will remove the tarnish in less than 15 minutes.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Jim Yanik wrote:
zxcvbob wrote in :


Jim Yanik wrote:

"Ross Mac" wrote in news:ItednXkkR4-
:



wrote in message
news

I started learning coin magic a few months ago, and wanted to clean up
a bunch of tarnished coins.

Tried all the solutions mentioned he vinegar, ketchup, hot sauce,
plus Oxy Clean. None of them worked.

I picked up some Nevr-Dull at the hardware store. It's a wadding
soaked with tarnish remover. A couple of rubs and the coins were
shining like brand new.

I guarantee that sulfuric acid will work. That's what they use in the
electronics biz.....





try Tarn-X,available in most drugstores and supermarkets.It works fast.


I still say tumbling them in a brass tumbler for abour 2 hours would be
the easiest, and it won't just take the tarnish off, it will polish the
coins to a high finish -- especially with treated corncob tumbling media.

Bob



Buying a bottle of Tarn-X is a lot cheaper;a couple of dollars,-especially
if you don't have a tumbler and polishing medium(like most people).
Also faster;Tarn-X will remove the tarnish in less than 15 minutes.



Of course most people don't have a tumbler, but I still think it'd
worthwhile to ask around if he knows any reloaders. I know I'd
tumble-polish a few hundred coins for someone for a project like this if
they asked me. It wouldn't cost anything.

Best regards,
Bob

Wet them with vinagar then sprinkle on some table salt.

"Rick" wrote in message
ink.net...
"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:13:54 -0700, "Blue" wrote:

I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest
for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but
don't
know how to do it.


Tumbling them in fine sand or baking soda seems to be the best
suggestions so far. I believe every country has a law that forbids
altering/defacing coin and money. Therefore any attempt to "gold" the
pennies must not be permanent. There might be a food grade gold
powder you can use.

Huh? If such a law exists I'd appreciate a reference to it.

I've seen all kinds of examples of altered coinage.. watches
made from half-dollars, etc.


It is my recollection that it is illegal to mutilate a coin and then pass it
as legal tender. Making a ring from a coin (which I once did) would not
seem to be illegal.

I once heard of an ancient trick with gold coins. Tumbled lightly to
imitate wear. The tumbling sand was then washed to extract the eroded gold.

When I was a boy, I came across a dime that had been sawed in two, cut sides
ground off, then sandwiched to pot metal and passed as real. All to salvage
five cents worth of silver -- they were silver then. What a way to make a
living!

SJF

Slicing dimes in half to skim some silver seems like too much
effort for the illegal gain.

A more profitable ploy involves separating the front and the back
of a dollar bill and doing the same for a $20 bill. Then the bills
are put back together so that 2 new bills are created, with each
bill having a $20 side and a $1 side. Now $21 worth of legitimate
paper money can be passed off as $40.

Don't ask me how they delaminated those bills - I just know that
it has been done.

Other ploys have included bleaching $1 bills and using the blank
paper to counterfeit higher denomination bills.

Gideon

======

SJF wrote in message 61Gwe.1378$HV1.1186@fed1read07...

"Rick" wrote in message
ink.net...
"PaPaPeng" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 25 Jun 2005 15:13:54 -0700, "Blue" wrote:

I have a few hundred pennies that I want to bury in a treasure chest
for
kids. I would like to clean them up to more closely imitate gold but
don't
know how to do it.


Tumbling them in fine sand or baking soda seems to be the best
suggestions so far. I believe every country has a law that forbids
altering/defacing coin and money. Therefore any attempt to "gold" the
pennies must not be permanent. There might be a food grade gold
powder you can use.

Huh? If such a law exists I'd appreciate a reference to it.

I've seen all kinds of examples of altered coinage.. watches
made from half-dollars, etc.


It is my recollection that it is illegal to mutilate a coin and then pass it
as legal tender. Making a ring from a coin (which I once did) would not
seem to be illegal.

I once heard of an ancient trick with gold coins. Tumbled lightly to
imitate wear. The tumbling sand was then washed to extract the eroded gold.

When I was a boy, I came across a dime that had been sawed in two, cut sides
ground off, then sandwiched to pot metal and passed as real. All to salvage
five cents worth of silver -- they were silver then. What a way to make a
living!

SJF