I don't like my coins "cleaned" as removing tone I just hate the dirt and grit on them. I put them in alcohol and distilled water and let them air dry if I think they are semi-important like a buffalo nickel, silver dime, or a wheat penny. I opened an old roll of pennies rolled by someone older, I can tell because of the gray hairs. The pieces of tissues and other particles on the coins were just disgusting, and those went for a swim.
Nah, alcohol and distilled water works for me, I heard of acetone though and might try that. I just don't like things that had hair and pieces of tissue in them but don't want to alter the look of the coin although I don't mind coins that have been cleaned, I have a barber coin like that. I did wash pennies in the sink or had them in my pocket that went through the laundry and that doesn't bother me at all. I was recently given Whitman coin books that were my Grandfather's and have bunch of copper pennies to put into them. I may just put them in the sink with shampoo before working with them since I didn't clean them since they are in a closed bank that I don't do anything with.
Rube, I'll bet you're someone who would really dig watching metal detecting videos on YouTube! Give it a try and see how warm and fuzzy you feel after watching those delightful coin hunters clear the dirt from their thrilling coin finds with their own orally generated spittle out in the field, applying generous amounts of coarse rubbing with soiled, gloved hands to reveal the gouged and scratched coin surfaces that their spades just made from plunging the blade blindly into the ground... While you don't see it portrayed in videos very often, some even suggest they'll clean up such finds in a rock tumbler! Those vids should keep your idle hands busy gripping the seat of your chair in anticipation of the next dig... :smile
I bought that coin like that at a coin shop. I liked you can see the details. The other coin I took back, the dealer chose that one, I said just give me a loose coin.
Since were talking about toning here goes a funny story. I passed by the coin store in the city the other day. Which I usually ask for toned Morgans. The dealer was telling me some guy was buying rainbow toned coins and cleaning them. He didn't want the toning, now why would someone buy toned coins if they don't want the toning?
That don't make sense to me since you can get a better deal if you buy cleaned coins, you can get them close to melt where rainbow tones get a top premium.
don't know what it looked like with toning I think that the coin probably would have looked better with toning but it is hard to tell since I bought it cleaned, mostly as bullion. Toning is natural to a coin but grit and dirt is not, that is something that was put on the coin by people. Just like when a opened a hand wrapped roll with all kinds of crap like hair and tissue pieces, that is not natural. I think it is right though that people think they can tell if something was cleaned but often times they can't tell. I know I posted these pennies in the picture below and people said they can tell the coin was dipped in alcohol because of things that were already on the coin before I did it. You know how they could tell? I told them. You think every coin that went through someone's laundry has been declared clean?
I had a metal detector as a teenager and even then I knew the right way to dig up a coin. First of all, once you have it centered in on your detector, you DON'T go poking into the ground with a screwdriver to find the object. One of my own methods was this....Look at the center of the coil after you center the signal, then move the coil out of the way without moving your eyes so that your eyes will be on the spot of ground where the object should be buried.....then cut a U shape around that center spot, depth of the cut depends on the strength of the signal you got, and then flip up the plug (if it's grass). Put the coil over the hole and if you get no signal, the object is in the plug of dirt/sod you just flipped up. Once you found the coin (using your fingers and not a metal object), flip the sod back into the hole so that the grass doesn't die. I've never scratched a coin digging it up and never spit on one. I'd stick it in my collection bag and wash it in water when I went inside.
I think all newbies need to learn to clean their coins. Go out and get the most toned coined you can find, and experiment. There are all kinds of things one can try. Fantastic, windex, mr clean, pinesol, drano (be careful), bleach to make them pearly white, baking soda, vinegar, olive oil, egg yolk, ice coffee and lighter fluid have all been recommended previously. Ruben
Oh ruben! I love cleaned coins. Especially the ones that are bent and damaged too! Infact, i own such a coin!
BTW - you can not practice cleaning on that coin if it is a slab. Did you not notice it was bent before you sent to the TPG? Ruben