The Pink Penny
Welcome all to my first Monday Money Magic Post! In this post I'm going to show you how to turn a dull, grimy penny into a sharp looking pink one! Well, sorta pink, more like an orangey-pink color! It's a fun experiment, more reactive that just throwing the penny into a salt and vinegar mixture, and it really takes the grime off. I do this every once in a while to the pre-1982 pennies that I find that have lots of gunk on them. I usually keep all of my pre-1982 pennies, as the copper value is worth more than the penny itself. If the US ever decides to make the melting of pennies legal again, I would have about $10.00 worth of pure copper! Lol! That being said, it is illegal to melt copper pennies in the United States, it is also illegal to take more than $5.00 worth of pennies outside of the country! So don't break the law, one day it might be me at the other end prosecuting you! =)
DISCLAIMER: Children under the age of 18 should not attempt this experiment, it is dangerous and may result in injury. Please be forewarned that your penny will now become worthless in terms of being a numismatic piece, but it will still retain it's 1 cent value. I'm not responsible for damage to you, your property, your penny, or anything related to this experiment, proceed at your own risk! DO NOT do this if it is a coin that you're collecting and something that you want to add to your collection, it will have no collector value because what you have essentially done is destroy the value that it used to have, only do this with a coin that you do not care about and only for fun!
MATERIALS AND INGREDIENTS
1. A Copper United States Penny (Pre-1982 - must not contain zinc, to be safe find anything before 1981)
2. Regular White Vinegar (Cold) - 1/4 Cup
3. Table Salt - 1 Teaspoon
4. Electric Stove Top
5. Metal Tongs
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Take the regular white vinegar and pour it into a small glass saucer, then add the table salt. Place the contents into the freezer until you're ready to proceed with the experiment
2. Take the penny(s) and place them along the coils of the electric stove top, then turn the stove on to the highest setting and wait.
5. Once cool enough to handle with your hands, or tongs, rinse and dry the penny.
6. Done, one pink penny to look at!
As an engineer I loved this.
ReplyDeleteThat said I think the vinegar and salt has little to do with taking off the gunk the heat and cold shock is what is removing everything. The pitting left behind is more damaging and leaves room for more stuff to grow and get stuck.
I have a gas stove so heating up a coin gives a black layer and if quenched in water will often leave a rainbow effect. Or fake toning.
Very nice, great post.
Lol, you're right, the cold shock has a lot to do with taking off the gunk, but the salt and vinegar also creates a chemical reaction with the copper and adds to the impact that the cold and heat have on the reaction. Kind of like how distillers clean their copper stills, they usually use an acid to clean the insides.
ReplyDeleteThe pitting is also horrible, the coin eventually looks like the face of the moon if you keep doing it again and again, eventually if you keep at it, you can't read the penny anymore.
In a week or so, I'll be heading up to Lansing, MI, going to visit a great coin shop out there that sells foreign coins extremely cheap, about $3/lb (u-pick), $2/lb (they pick). So I will be back here with some more material. Found some awesome coins there last time, I'll post them later so you can have a look!