So, I found this old coffee can full of pennies stashed away in the back of a closet the other day. Must’ve been sitting there for years. Don’t even remember when I last added to it. Anyway, had some time on my hands today, figured why not dump ’em out and see what’s what.
First thing I did was spread an old newspaper on the dining table. Good thing too, because when I tipped that can over, wow. Pennies everywhere. And dust. Lots of dust. It made a heck of a racket spilling out.
Getting Started
Just looked at the pile for a minute. Mostly copper-colored, obviously, but lots of different shades. Some dark brown, almost black. Some still kinda bright. A few even had that greenish crusty stuff on them. I started just pushing them around, making little mountains and valleys. Kinda satisfying, that metallic scraping sound.
Then I thought, okay, let’s do something with these. Decided to try sorting them. First idea was by year. I grabbed a handful and started looking at the dates. Found one from the 50s, pretty worn down. Found a bunch from the 80s and 90s, those were common. It got tedious fast, though. My eyes started crossing trying to read the tiny dates, and making little stacks for every year? Nah, wasn’t feeling that dedicated.
A Simpler Approach
Okay, plan B. I just started separating them into two main piles: the really dark, grimy looking ones, and the ones that still had some shine left. That was way easier. Just a quick glance and flick it into the correct pile.
- Pile 1: Shiny-ish pennies.
- Pile 2: Dull, dark, old-looking pennies.
While doing that, I actually paid more attention to the designs. Found a few of those wheat pennies in the dull pile. Those are kinda neat. You know, the ones with the wheat stalks on the back instead of the Lincoln Memorial. Felt like finding a little bit of history.
Also noticed how beat up some of them were. Dents, scratches, worn smooth in places. Makes you wonder where they’ve all been, whose pockets they rattled around in. Kinda funny thinking about the journey of a single penny.
Little Cleaning Test
Got curious about the really dirty ones. Picked out a couple of the darkest pennies, ones you could barely tell were copper. Wondered if I could clean ’em up easily.
I remembered hearing something about vinegar and salt. Mixed a little bit in a small bowl. Took an old toothbrush and scrubbed one of the dark pennies with the mixture. It definitely lightened up! Wasn’t like brand new, but you could see the copper color much better. Still looked kinda blotchy though.
Tried another dark one with just some dish soap and water. Scrubbed that one too. Didn’t do nearly as much. Barely made a difference. So, the vinegar trick works better, I guess. Didn’t bother doing more, felt like too much effort for a bunch of pennies.
Ended up just scooping them all back into the coffee can. Took a good few scoops. Made sure the lid was on tight this time. Might just leave them there for another few years. It was a simple way to kill an hour or so, just messing with old coins. Didn’t really achieve anything, but sometimes that’s alright. Just a quiet afternoon playing with pennies.
