Anti-rust actions or not?

To start with,
I am a totally "no-cleaning-coins-or-else-I-kick-you-in the- a...ss" ...  type of collector, however a huge bunch WW (1 & 2) notgeld and general coinage came to my hands recently, most of them made of iron. (and some zinc, but I know what to do with them )***

They look dark-brownish rusted, like Tom Sawyer's old axe... some rare years amongst them: only recognizable under microscope or under your local veterinarian's X-ray (which comes handy as they are designed for cats, so they're small and harmless to humans)

So my question is:
regardless of my old faith, can I just throw these into an anti-rustic agent? (then clean them off, of course.)
I did that with some and it worked miracles on the iron...

What do you think?
(specially that my aim is to swap them with you guys )

Thanks,
Imre

EDIT: *** Also comes handy if want to track Bulgarian, Romanian or other counterfeit Roman coins, but that is another topic - sorry for sidetracking myself.

Depends on which countries you have from the wartime.

Verweis : HippaforalkusDepends on which countries you have from the wartime.

????
How does that depend?
anyways: Hungary, Germanzzzzz (e.g. a lot) and Polish plus some Soviet staff...

I still do not see why it shall be different if the country varies?

Some countries like Belgium have their zinc coins in quite good shape and made a lot, so you can clean them. If there is a coin which is rare, don't clean it; once you want to swap it or sell it, it might get you less money if cleaned.

Verweis : imrehmost of them made of iron.

IRON, IRON, no zinc:

ijzer
ferrum

   

Verweis : imrehIRON, IRON, no zinc:

ijzer
ferrum

   

If they're copper I wouldn't clean them.  Or gold.  Or silver.  Maybe zinc.  Are they zinc?  

Verweis : glorkar

Verweis : imrehIRON, IRON, no zinc:

ijzer
ferrum

   

If they're copper I wouldn't clean them.  Or gold.  Or silver.  Maybe zinc.  Are they zinc?  

Yes.
They are ZINC or COPPER... but made of IRON!    

I don't think ironing them will help.  Unless they are the paper notgeld notes.
No iron for me.  Sometimes iwalk or ijog, but seldom do iron.


Seriously though, I would think that with these coins it would be alright to clean them.  I mean, you are simply stopping a damaging corrosive process from progressing.

At the very minimum, separate them and keep them dry. At least they won't get any worse.

Pick out a few of the more heavily corroded common dates and experiment. Some people swear by WD40 or very light machine oil. It won't remove the existing corrosion but it should stop any further damage along with the right environment.

Speaking purely personally I would much rather own a lightly oiled (and therefore stabilized) coin than one which would be likely to rust away in a few years. Conservation as opposed to cleaning if you will.

Finally, are the coins IRON?  

Verweis : RONALD REAGAN... and we also had a lot fun here, ... the Ironlady and I, Ron...

Verweis : RONALD REAGANYour collection was highly enjoyable, I truely loved it ... Now, tell me, Maggy, ... do you use any anti-rust agent on your zinc coins, or just on the iron ones?

The Zinc Lady....... just doesn't have the same gravitas.

Verweis : RONALD REAGAN... Did you hear that Maggy?... Phil thinks you are all zinc, not iron... what shall we do with Florida, then, Maggy..., treat them as the Falklands?... hmmm?

coin memes lol

Verweis : pnightingaleAt the very minimum, separate them and keep them dry. At least they won't get any worse.

Pick out a few of the more heavily corroded common dates and experiment. Some people swear by WD40 or very light machine oil. It won't remove the existing corrosion but it should stop any further damage along with the right environment.

Speaking purely personally I would much rather own a lightly oiled (and therefore stabilized) coin than one which would be likely to rust away in a few years. Conservation as opposed to cleaning if you will.

Finally, are the coins IRON?  

For those collectors that are not familiar with Notgeld, they were made of many different materials and metals ..  Such as: Iron, Zinc, Brass, Bronze, Nickel, Tin, Hard Rubber, Wood, Cardboard, Coal and including Nickel plated Iron, Nickel clad Iron, Nickel plated Zinc, Nickel clad Zinc, Bronze clad Zinc, Brass clad Zinc, Tin plated Zinc and ...  well, I think you get the idea ..

Unlike other coins, many collectors of Notgeld shy away from corroded coins.  If they do obtain any, most WILL (non-intrusive) clean them.  AND yes, WD40 works well on most any of them and does leave a slight oil film on the coin. I have had to clean several just to be able to identify the coin, which took soaking for a couple of weeks and many changes of WD40 ...

Just as an added note, there are over 10,000 Notgeld coins.