Dirty Old Coins

My Dad gave me this purse which had been my Gran's. It was full of ha'pennies: not just old money but filthy oxidised, coppery old coins that were largely blue and sticky. 

Remembering my Blue Peter days I immediately got out the fruity brown sauce and slathered them liberally.

Then a few hours later, rinsed it all off with hot soapy water, patted them dry and then heated them in the oven for a little while to make sure they were completely dry.

  The result...

Clean coppery coins that are still old looking but not filthy or sticky. I suppose if you leave the sauce on overnight they might look like those completely new shiny coins that seem to appear in November every year, but that wasn't the look I was going for.