How to Patina Copper Pennies

Hi! I'm Chas and I love penny projects. Here is how I added patina to copper pennies and the fun project I created with them:

What is copper patina?  It’s that green patina color that shows up on the surface of copper items giving copper an aged look and a rich color.

1

Wash &  Dry Your Pennies

Wash your pennies with Dawn, hot water, and baking soda to clean off the oils and dirt on them. 

Then drain, rinse, and dry them. Strainers are the easiest way to do this. 

2

Soak in  Special Mixture

To create the patina solution, mix together equal parts of white vinegar and table salt so that it coats all of the pennies. 

3

Drain the Mixture

Drain out the mixture but don’t rinse them with clean water.

4

Air Dry Pennies

Place the pennies on a baking sheet and let them dry completely so the oxidation process can complete its magic. 

You can add more salt over them as they’re drying if you wish.  Pennies will patina at different rates so you can play with the timing to get your desired color.

I decided to glue my pennies to these wooden letters and hang them as decoration!