How Do You Clean Flood Damaged Mardi Gras Doubloons?
Mardi Gras doubloons are keepsakes that are tossed from floats by the various krewes and mystic societies during the annual New Orleans festival. Each doubloon features the sign of the krewe and the year in which it was distributed. Doubloons are minted in lightweight aluminum or plastic. Collectors gather doubloons to complete sets or to follow the annual exploits of a specific krewe. During the flooding that followed Hurricane Katrina, many doubloons were damaged or destroyed. Damaged doubloons can be restored using normal household cleansers. Place all metal doubloons in a single pail. Stand them on end to clean as much of the surfaces as possible. Put plastic doubloons in a second pail. The chemicals used in the cleansers do not work well on both types of doubloons, so they must be separated. Pour lemon juice in the first pail and Pine-Sol in the second. Use just enough of each to cover the tops of the coins. Add an equal amount of water to the Pine-Sol solution. Pine-Sol needs to
