The authoritative public forum
  for Metal Finishing since 1989
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Information on cleaning a penny for science

Q. Hi my friend and I are doing and I are doing a science project for school and we would like to know what cleans a penny the best and why? can you send us information about pennies and the history behind them

Also can you send us peoples names and email addresses who know a lot about pennies/copper, places in the new York area where we can go to find out about pennies, and a web site we can go to about pennies and copper we tried using many household substances and we found that ketchup and Zud ⇨
w/ water cleaned a penny the best can you tell us why this may have happened and why these items cleaned it better than vinegar ⇦in bulk on eBay or Amazon [affil links] \salt\water. I know because I already tried it.

Melinda J [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- Miami, Florida
2000

A. I did this project for my science project and I experimented with Coke, Diet Coke and Lemons Diet Coke and the coke works better because of the sugar and the acids it has!

thanks bye

Alfredo S [last name deleted for privacy by Editor]
- Mpls, Minnesota
2003

Note to students with science projects: Please see our FAQ on Cleaning Pennies; it will tell you everything you need to know!