With our upcoming trip to Disney I knew I had to get my pennies ready for the press penny machines that my daughter loves. When I used to the pressed pennies I would try to use the new a shiny penny I had. Then I found out that pennies made after 1982 or are being made with primarily zinc instead of copper. This will lead to silver streaking in you penny. Now the only problem is most pennies that were made before 1982 are very dirty. They will not look nice when they’re pressed. So I went on Pinterest and saw there were quite a few different ways on how to clean your pennies. I decided that I want to take the top three methods and put them to the test to see which will result in the shiniest penny.
Best Way To Clean Pennies Test – Find out which way works BEST!
Method one – Cola
Place your pennies in a shallow container and cover them with cola soda. Let the penny sit for two hours and then flip them over to the other side. Let them sit for another two hours. Using a soft toothbrush gently scrub the pennies under running water. Dry thoroughly.
Method two – Vinegar and salt
In a plastic container combined 1 teaspoon of salt with a 1/4 cup of white vinegar. Place your pennies into the mixture. Let the penny sit for three minutes. Flip the pennies over and let them sit for an additional three minutes. Using a soft toothbrush gently scrub the pennies under running water. Dry thoroughly.
Method three – Ketchup
Place your pennies in a small container. Cover them with ketchup. Let the penny sit for three minutes. Flip the pennies over and let them sit for an additional three minutes. Using a soft toothbrush gently scrub the pennies under running water. Dry thoroughly.
Best Way To Clean Pennies Test – Find out which way works BEST! – The Results!
I found that cleaning the pennies with the vinegar mixture had the best results. It left the pennies very shiny with very little time. Most them I did not even have to scrub. The ketchup was the second best. It did not do as good of a job cleaning the pennies as the vinegar solution. The worst results with the cola. I barely saw any difference in my pennies and took a lot longer than the other methods. After this experiment I took my pennies from the ketchup and the cola experiment and place them into the vinegar solution. Now all my coins are nice and shiny!
Carla Rider says
Pretty awesome, I will have to try.
IRISH PACK says
lol, you substituted “panties” for “pennies” in the first one…thought you might like to change that, or not…gave me a good giggle 😉
Shelley says
Thanks for the information. I do have a question, in coin collecting will this damage the coins at all? The coin value? I have to say the darkness of the coins drives me crazy.
Hayden says
Stephanie was prepping her pennies for coin press machines. This is different from coin collecting or numismatics. If you are collecting a coin for numismatic value, no you do not clean it. For press machines or elongated penny collecting, the shinier the better as they are difficult to clean after. I collect both since the 1970’s. The press machines are fun to create a memento from a vacation or event.