How to Clean a Penny With Salt, Water & Vinegar

Rust, dirt and other particles leave pennies dirty and sometimes unrecognizable. A penny that is beat up is still worth money, though. Cleaning the unclean coins prevents stains from transferring from the pennies to your hands or clothing items. Combining salt and vinegar with the copper found on a penny is also an interesting scientific experiment that even young kids can complete. Arguably the best part about this cleaning method is that it takes roughly one minute to get the pennies shining like new.

Things You'll Need

• Dish or bowl
• Cloth

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Instructions

1. • 1

     Fill a small bowl or petri dish with enough water to submerge all of the dirty pennies.

   • 2

     Add ½ tbsp. of salt to the bowl. Use your finger to stir and mix the ingredients.

   • 3

     Place the pennies in the solution. The two ingredients interact with the copper on the pennies, eliminating dirt and stains from the pennies. Leave the pennies in the solution for about 30 seconds.

   • 4

     Remove the pennies from the solution. Rinse them thoroughly with water to remove all of the vinegar.

   • 5

     Wipe the pennies dry with a soft cloth.