Myers Depot Metal Detectors

All my coins are coming back red.....fertilizer/pesticide?

R

ringsandthings

Junior Member
Joined
Apr 13, 2021
Messages
40
Location
Iowa
Hi,

My wife and I are new to the forum. It's great there are so many people out there obsessed like we are! I'm in central California and 2 months ago my coins were normal. The last month they are all coming back with some sort of red solution/film on them. It is the most noticeable on all the dimes, quarters and nickels. I have found some coins in uncirculated condition, minus this film. What is it and how do I get it off?? FYI, these were found in parks, not water.

Thanks,
TJ
 
Got any pictures, that would help. Nitrogen in fertilizer sometimes put a white-ish film on coins. What type of sites are you hunting?
 
They all come up rusty looking because of the iron in the soil. You need to separate the nickels, dimes & quarters and tumble them with some aquarium gravel, dish soap and vinegar/water mixture in a rock tumbler. The pennies go in a batch all their own with dish soap & water for a while, then take out any 1982 and earlier, (copper, except a few types from 1982 being zinc). Return all 1983 and newer pennies to the tumbler with plenty of vinegar added this time.
 
So, you mean the clad that looks all red and dirty? Did you plant the coins into the ground for a test garden and checked on them now? If so, it's completely normal for coins to have this red patina, that's just due to the oxidation in the soil. Just like Cee-Dee said, tumble the coins and they'll be shiny as new.

Here is a helpful link I used to learn how to tumble coins:

https://hobbylark.com/metal-detecting/Coin-Cleaning-Rotary-Rock-Tumbler-Tips

Hope this helped!

Josh
 
I found a 1972 quarter recently, red like that. I assume you mean NOT rusty, but truly red...almost like a barn only darker and duller? I'm not at home so I can't post a photo. When I get home I'll try to remember to post it. That won't be until 9pm or so probably... I was wondering about that myself. I find coins like that from time to time...
 
All my clad comes out of the ground that way here no matter the type of soil they're in. Only way they don't is if they have been in the ground less than a couple years. Tumble as was said above.
 
All my clad comes out of the ground that way here no matter the type of soil they're in. Only way they don't is if they have been in the ground less than a couple years. Tumble as was said above.
 
This is what I was talking about.
I have pulled out coins like this from time to time ever since I first started detecting. I always wondered about that too. The hue is always more or less the same. Since I got back into detecting about 2mos ago I've probably dug up 30 - 40 coins. This was the only one that looks like this, and interestingly it's the only quarter out of the whole bunch.

Edit: I take it back. There was also a dime like that recently.
 

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I've dug thousands of coins that looked like your quarter example........totally normal especially for areas with high iron content in the soil.
 
The vast whopping majority of my coins dont look like that. Even in my recent find of 7 coins in 1 hole had no red ones. I found many other coins in the same park as the quarter and none of the others was red.

Correction: In the past month there was one dime like that.
 
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I think land use and water content have a lot to do with condition of coins. Farm fields where lots of fertilizer and animals grazing and pooping everywhere or damp ground seem to always produce very damaged coins where a homesite up on a hill with well drained and dry soil produce cleaner better detailed coins. In my experience anyways.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Seems to be what they call Red Patina. It's caused by the oxidation of copper-constituent alloys. It doesnt seem go into detail about oxidating agents or catalysts...but this definately seems to explain the red. There are many types of Patinas with varying colors and hues.. Just skip to the part about the red if you want.

https://www.metaldetectingworld.com/cleaning_coin_p3_patina.shtml
 
Sorry, I should have clarified better. It looks like red paint. It's on all the coins that are coming from local parks. Yes,I could tumble them,but I have a few that I don't want to damage tumbling. I wasn't sure if there was a solution that would take it off. I'll post a picture tomorrow.
 
The longer they’re in the ground the more they look like that for where I’m at. Usually fields like soccer, but it ain’t fresh clad.
 
Coins that have been in the dirt for any length of time will come out of the ground with a redish brown patina.

Coins that are dug have already been damaged by the environment. Unless they are a key date tumbling will not hurt.
 
Your pictures are VERY similar to what I see Metal PIG. Water doesn't even come close to taking it off. It reminds me of spraypaint overspray or like a wax resin. Very weird. To me, it looks too barn red to look iron stained, but you guys are the experts. I'll tumble them with vinegar. Someone mentioned tumbling doesn't hurt. The problem is that it cleans the high points and dulls the coins. They are cool looking when done but coin collectors wouldn't pay for that matte look.
 
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