Hello All, I recently bought some silver war nickels on Amazon on a lot that was described as "lot of ten random dates and grades" so I was expecting junk silver. I was pleasant surprised to find three of them looked like this one that I'm posting. I was just wanting to get everyone's opinion on the grade. Any and all feed back is greatly appreciated. Swerths
I think it might be a good idea to rinse that coin in some acetone, looks like what might be some PVC residue on it.
This may also be from my lighting, i haven't quite figured out how to get my lighting corrected for more accurate pictures.
I was under the impression that you were not supposed to clean coins, that it decreased the value of them. Is acetone not a form of cleaning? I don't want to seem like I'm disregarding the information that you all are giving me, I'm just asking questions, that way I know for next time. Again all of your feedback is greatly appreciated.
The use of acetone has been discussed many times, so if you search older threads, they're likely to answer most of your questions.
Acetone removes particular types of foreign debris, but leaves the original coin (that is, everything that was present on it when it was first struck) intact. In that sense, it is not the same type of "cleaning" from putting it in an acidic solution because it does not react with/change the original surfaces.
And that's exactly the problem with 1 word (that same word) for 2 different things. The misuse of that 1 word confuses people. There is cleaning, and there is harsh (or improper) cleaning - 2 different things ! Cleaning is perfectly acceptable, sometimes it is even necessary for the protection of the coin. And it does not decrease the value of a coin. On the contrary, it can sometimes greatly increase the value of a coin. Cleaning is NOT harmful to the coin. Harsh, or improper cleaning is never acceptable. And it always decreases the value of a coin. Harsh cleaning IS harmful to the coin. ........................................................................... But when people talk about it, or discuss it, or write about it, they typically only use 1 word - cleaning, or some form of it such as clean, cleaned, cleaning. When that is NOT what they should be saying at all. So yes, rinsing a coin in acetone is most definitely cleaning. So is rinsing a coin in xylene. So is rinsing a coin in distilled water. And so is dipping a coin. They are all forms of cleaning, and if done correctly they do not harm the coin are perfectly acceptable.
