I started out my collecting by cleaning a lot of coins and attributing them. I
had tried just about every method in the book and eventually found that I got the most
success from distilled water. Instead of letting coins sit forever and ever in a solution, I would regularly change out some Tupperware with fresh distilled water and a few coins in them. Letting osmosis do its trick, I would give each one a
good scrubbing every few days or week and a
good wipe/rinse, then back in a fresh
bit of distilled water again. After a while of soft bristled toothbrushes not doing a great job, I went into a bass pro
shop and bought a stiff nylon bristled brush for gun cleaning to use on the coins. Eventually I ordered a
brass brush as well for stubborn encrustations. Learning which coins to use soft bushes on and which ones you can go ahead and get away with a
brass brush takes some finesse and time. Some patinas are soft and others are pretty solid and can
handle a little brushing of a
brass brush for stubborn crusty dirt. Since I have gone through a whole lot of uncleaned coins and don't have as much patients as you to just let them sit, I have found my method pretty useful for cleaning and attributing coins in relatively quick fashion. For the most
part my patinas are
intact still and the junk is gone. I also used an X-acto knife for precision cleaning. It looks pretty intimidating but you can accomplish a lot around corners and crevices with the right amount of pressure
applied.