Cleaning coins with vinegar and salt??

I have made a few videos at Youtube that show my coin albums. I'm getting a sudden huge surge of views via the "suggested videos" linked to my own videos. One of the trends among many of the "suggested videos" nowadays are by some young people in Korea who are very interested in showing how to clean coins with vinegar and salt.

I guess they've got nothing better to do...

The results seem to be pretty bad on copper, and they seem to be doing it with the occasional key-date coin, albeit heavily circulated.



I don't think I've ever heard of vinegar and salt dip before...
What happens to coins in salt and vinegar?

 

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It destroys the value of any coin cleaned this way.

 

Nothing very good, I'm sure (the language is Korean). Vinegar is mostly water plus a little acetic acid, so you have acetic acid in salt water; possibly the grains of salt used as an abrasive to do the actual cleaning.

Something like zinc-plated coins should be ruined immediately; for copper, a little longer. Yuk. If I get bored today, I'll try it.

I will admit that combo makes for good potato chips.

 

Hence the reason coins are seldom made from thinly sliced potatoes.

 

Not sure I really want to find out what happens with salt, vinegar & coins. I live in Michigan & I know what salt does to a car. That's enough to satisfy my curiosity.

I have to agree with Doug on the potato chip flavor. Better Made brand (a classic, Detroit-made favorite) are the best by far!

 

Oh man, don't start a "best by far" regional contest on potato chips. No way to win. I only have two words for you - "Amish" and "lard".

 

Hmmmm... now that does sound interesting. Not sure how much the Amish part would make a difference, however just about anything cooked in lard has to taste great!
Since I've never experienced such a delicacy, let's narrow the category a bit & say chips cooked in vegetable oil.

 

As a metal detector it's, I've tried the salt and vinegar method for cleaning clad coins and it is very harsh on coins so it not something I would do to anything that has any value


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Kurt, the NEW Utz "Fried Dill Pickle"! Simply irresistible and goes good with D&W turkey breast! @Paddy54

 

UTZ

 

Agree...see above.

 

No doubt cottonseed oil is one of the better vegetable-based fats for frying thinly sliced potatoes.
Although I have seen Utz in my travels, I don't think I've seen them in Southeast Michigan. I'll have to buy a bag the next time I find them.

 

When in Pennsylvania Amish country, keep an eye out for the brand "Good's". The bag with the red printing is cooked in vegetable oil. The one with the blue printing is the lard cooked one.

I guess the blue is in honor of the color your face turns when you suffer the myocardial infarction. (Can I say that on CT?)

 

I bet a study of the geographic distribution of Good's blue bag sales & statin prescriptions would correlate fairly closely.

 

Try it on a lead die trial if it has PbO corrosion. Works great with this alloy. Just vinegar - 8/16/24h checks till satisfied.

 

@mlov43, if a metal detectorist refuses to use this concoction to restore dirt-nap coins, that should be all you need to hear.

Seriously, this is the chemical equivalent of employing a Dremel as a conservation tool. Those folks won't find a warm reception trying to sell in the US, as the results of their work will be plain for all to see.

 

Vinegar is 5% acetic acid.

Salt is sodium chloride.

Mix them, and they shuffle back and forth, making some sodium acetate (harmless) and some hydrochloric acid (extremely destructive to copper, nickel, zinc, aluminum, steel, and lots of other metals).

Keep the salt and vinegar for the potatoes!

 

Yes, a little hydrochloric acid is good for the digestion.

 

Fixed that for ya. Also, don't swallow coins, especially key dates.

 

It creates blackened diaper-diving nickels when done by a rugrat.