I'm wondering if I can get some comments, discussion, and help with this dilemma... I like to collect DMPL Morgans... I prefer blast white coins, especially if they are DMPL's... what's the point in having beautiful mirrored fields in they are dirty, toned, unattractive, etc... and how are you to get a DMPL certified if it is indeed dirty, toned, etc and not beautifully reflective... Anyway, I've had several raw, very nice, what I hope would be maybe MS65 DMPL Morgans... some looked a little dirty, some spotted, some with decent toning, some not attractive toning, etc, etc... I wanted to send some to PCGS... but if I'm gonna have a DMPL coin slabbed, who wants it slabbed while it's dirty (well, not me, at least)... I want the beautiful reflective fields shining at their best for the rest of their lives in the slab... I looked around, and it seems like very common, accepted practice to properly clean coins these days, and it seems pretty acceptable that PCGS evens grades these properly cleaned coins... it sounded to me that one way to properly clean coins is with some water with a little baking soda... so I lightly did this to some of these nice DMPLs, just lightly rubbing them between my fingers... and they really did clean up very nicely and came out looking beautiful... not unnatural looking at all, but fully white with nice luster, and beautiful, clean, mirror like reflective fields... just like I would like... However, as I'm sure you all guessed, they all came back from PCGS as "Cleaned"... So I'm wondering several things... I do own several blast white, beautiful DMPL Morgans that were graded by PCGS... there's no way that a 150 year old silver coin looks like that without some cleaning along the way... so what is the difference between what I sent in that they labeled "Cleaned", and these other, obviously cleaned coins that they certified? If you own a nice coin like this, with what would be beautiful DMPL fields if they weren't covered, at least partially, with a layer of oxidation or toning or ..., what's one to do if they desire it to be certified? I certainly wouldn't want it to be slabbed if it just looks old and dirty, and PCGS most likely would never give it a DMPL in that state... but if you clean it up a little to show off the mirrored fields, you get it back "cleaned"... so it seems like there is no way to win with a nice MS65 DMPL coin if it is a little unattractive for some reason that can easily be cleaned up... So, now that I have these gorgeous white, beautifully reflective mirrored coins that are cleaned (I didn't have them slabbed)... what the heck do I do? Is there anything I can do to stash the coins away for 5 or 10 years, get them to keep the nice white reflective fields, but be able to get them eventually graded by PCGS? Is there a better way to clean a coin, with dip, etc, if one plans on submitting the coins to PCGS? What's the secret to getting PCGS to grade these blast white coins without labeling them as 'Cleaned"? For instance, after cleaing like this, should I have set the coins aside for a year (or some period), to let them slightly oxidize before submitting them? Of course, then the fields aren't as nice as they could have been... Thanks for any comments.... I'm a brand new poster here, but have read thru many of the forums here and have appreciated the tons of information i have learned from you all... Steve
You harshly cleaned your coins; you rubbed the coins with an abrasive (baking soda). Pretty much any mechanical cleaning will cause hairlines or scratches on the surface of a coin. There is a difference between a harshly-cleaned coin and a properly-cleaned coin. A properly-cleaned coin was likely dipped in a cleaning solution, rinsed and dried, all without any mechanical action. You can hope that the coins will heavily tone and hide the hairlines but the fact of the matter is the damage is done and the hairlines will be there forever. Let this be a lesson. Don't clean your coins (unless you know what you are doing and have years and years of experience).
Yes they do. But the key word is properly. That right there is your problem. What you did was an improper or a harsh cleaning. It was not a proper cleaning. Baking soda is an abrasive so it leaves tell tale marks on the coin. You may think they look good, but an experienced eye will see that they were harshly cleaned in about 1 second.
I have this but haven't tried it, I think this is the most commonly used cleaner besides acetone and water. http://www.amazon.com/EST-Coin-Cleaner-5oz-jar/dp/B000YQ6GXU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343423410&sr=8-1&keywords=ezest NCS can also clean your coins for a fee.
