# Is there an easy way to make coins shiny?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-make-coins-shiny/656913>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 28, 2013, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-make-coins-shiny/656913 "2013-04-28T16:08:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-make-coins-shiny/656913/21 "2013-04-29T12:59:06Z")

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> [@usedtobe](#):
>
> Coke.
> 
> Really
> 
> Its nickname “battery acid” is not that far off.
> 
> I once drove a canteen truck with a fountain - I set the cash box up at the end of the truck- by the fountain,  
> At end of day, a stray coin which had fallen in came out as shiny as a mint coin

Ironically Mountain Dew residue was one of the things I was washing off with my water and soap method. Maybe that is why they came out as shiny after I washed all the gunk off.

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-make-coins-shiny/656913/22 "2013-04-29T18:32:49Z")

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Dunking pennies in vinegar with some salt sprinkled in, then rinsing them in cold water, will get most of 'em nice and shiny. But easier just to get a new roll from the bank.

> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#):
>
> Ex-teller here… I had a standing order for $500 bills for a certain customer…

You must’ve been a teller a loooooong time ago: [Large denominations of United States currency - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_denominations_of_United_States_currency#.24500_bill)

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**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-an-easy-way-to-make-coins-shiny/656913/23 "2013-04-29T19:41:11Z")

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> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> You must’ve been a teller a loooooong time ago: [Large denominations of United States currency - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_denominations_of_United_States_currency#.24500_bill)

They end up in circulation every once in a rare while. I got two during the three years I was a teller, just when they happened to come into the Chicago Federal Reserve, and the only reason I got them was due to that particular customer’s request.

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