What to do with very crudded over wheaties and indians

[catskillcomics]

Like most of us, I have several containers of wheat and indian pennies that you can barely or not at all identifiable, what to do with them all? Melt them down? Any ideas.

[Digger Don]

Sometimes a HOT peroxide bath does a pretty good job.

[Noah]

If you go through and clean them you never know you might find a 1914 D.

[Bucknut]

I tumble all my wheats. I probably should do the same for my cruddy Indians.

[Ill Digger]

I tumble all my wheats. I probably should do the same for my cruddy Indians.

Me too. I just tumble them. Then put them in a glass jar.

[rharris]

I second the hot peroxide method. Sometimes it works wonders.

[aloldstuff]

Me too. I just tumble them. Then put them in a glass jar.

Tumble them.

[The Rebel]

Try using a brass wire brush or as others have said tumble, but never melt them down.

[Tony Two-Cent]

I just tumble my wheat cents after checking them for key dates. I leave Indian Heads as is and just keep them in a large zip-lock baggie.

It's actually illegal to melt them down, that's why you can't sell pre-1982 cents as scrap copper. Otherwise people would be buying pennies in bulk from the banks because the copper in them is worth more than face value.

[Digger_O'Dell]

I also go the hot peroxide route. Another method is a long soak in CLR. I've had great luck both ways. Only on the really corroded ones, I'll sometimes use a fine stainless or brass wire brush if all else fails. The stainless can sometimes knock off scale loosened by the soaking, and the brass one sometimes brings out highlights enough to get an ID or a date.