How do I clean a filthy pile of everyday American coins?
Faced with exactly the same problem — a big pile of accumulated pocket change held together by a sludgy glue of syrupy dried cola, dust, stray hairs, and time —- I dumped the coins in a big bowl with a few drops of dishwashing soap, covered them with hot water, and let them sit half an hour or so, to soften the crusty, sticky goo. Then I swished and clanked the coins around with my hands, drained off the water, added fresh water, swished again, drained again, and let them dry on a towel. The next morning, I took them to the coin machine at the bank, which netted me a tidy amount of folding money… … and a few coins, so I could start the whole operation over again.
