coins and sand

Being a new comer to detecting, I have 2 questions, first what is the best way to clean tarnished coins I find. And 2, what's the best way to detect a beach for the first time, where to start. Any help would be most appreciated.......................Steve

1-Wash the sand off the coins then place them in a coke machine and press refund,you'll get new ones back.(or buy a can of coke).Only joking try cleaning by rubbing with wet sand as soon as you get them before they dry.Otherwise tumble when you get a heap of them just with water and a cement mixer.I experimented a bit with solutions nothing really worked including coke.
2-Any part of the beach is good,more important grid an area leaving lines behind with your feet so you work a pattern and fully cover the area you have selected.

First spot I try on the beach is immediately in front of the steps out towards the nearest rockwall, line of bushes, places people like to sit up against. Then I do about 2 metres either side of the high tide line. Anywhere that has shade at any time of the day. I look for places where you know people have been sitting around.

Busy beaches like bondi, well it doesn't matter where you look because they fill up the whole beach. over cronulla way there seem to be more coins on the grassy area's above the beach than on the beach itself. Over the backs of sand dunes as well you might find patches of coins because many times the clothing gets ripped off so fast that they drop everything from their pockets and don't even look for it untill much later He he he . I like to check any steep bank or channel at low tide as well.

Gday


There are as many ways to clean coins as the methods are varied, the first rule is never clean a coin that you think might be valuable, as any form of cleaning except by a professional could damage an otherwise very valuable coin, and you could lose a lot of money on it.

If you are just cleaning up decimal stuff that you are picking up on the beach then soaking in a solution of lemon juice and a small amount of salt will usually take off some of the tarnish, then just give them a wash in soapy water and dry with a cloth, also vinegar will do the trick too.

If the coin is badly encrusted then the best method is electrolysis, I wont try to explain it here in detail but basically it means using a small applied electrical current, that will desolve the encrustation from the coin, the electrical charge is run through the coin while it is suspended in a solution of lemon juice and salt.

If you google "coin cleaning by electrolysis" there are clear instructions of how to make and use this sort of device, it is cheap to make and easy to use, but they can also damage valuable coins, but face it if you find a heavily encrusted coin on the beach it is already damaged so you are just salvaging it the best you can.

I used to clean them up as best I could and then whack them through the coin counter at my local bank branch, they got a bit pissed , the coins didnt have any gunge left on them but some were still badly discoloured, so you had to squint at them to see what they were as previously mentioned with some coins you are better carrying them around for mongrel parking meters and drink machines.


cheers


stayyerAU

Many thanks to Kingfish, Choppacalamri and StayerAU for your enlightened views. I now have a little more information to make my detecting more enjoyable..................Thanks fella's

another simple way I use is to put them in a tumbler with corn husk. They come out looking like new.

TreatableRiverrat wrote:another simple way I use is to put them in a tumbler with corn husk. They come out looking like new.

And then you put them back in your pocket

HELLO MATEEEEEEEEEE......Where the bloody hell have you been.?

coin tumbler workes great i use aquarium stones a bit of dish washing liquid and water steve