Do you collect 40% silver?

I always hear of people collecting the pre-1964 half dollars, quarters, dimes, etc. I do collect those. But for some reason I like the 1965-1970 half dollars that are 40% as well as the eisenhower 40%. I think deep down it is because I feel like I'm making more progress when I have more physical coins to see even though they are worth half as much. And other than the edges they look exactly like the 90% versions so they are just as beautiful, especially after I clean them

 

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Ah, you terrible coin cleaner!:dead-horse:

 

Btw, yes I do collect 40%

 

Scrub 'em up... just like we did in the 1950's. Plenty of baking soda, a little water, and "bingo"... beautiful coins!

 

Confucious say man who clean coin need head examined.

 

I don't collect 40%'s but I accumulate them through roll hunting, then build up enough to sell and buy a nice key date coin .

 

I get them cheap enough on ebay, but I only buy one at a time. I'm not made out of money, so if I only have a few bucks to play with, I'll snatch them up. Before I know it, I have a roll or two to play with.

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I've heard that the best way to clean them is with a rock tumbler.

 

^ yeah will be pretty shiny then.

i dont buy 40%ers but if i find them i keep them silver is silver when its modern

 

I clean them because I want them to look as much as closely as possible to the way they looked when they were new. If I put them in a rock tumbler the faces would be rubbed off. I use electrolysis and for the really stubborn ones I use a toothbrush and baking soda.

 

My statement was sarcasm.

Cleaning your coins destroys any numismatic value that they might have had if left in the condition that you found them.

 

Why not collect the 40%ers?

FYI, 7 40% half dollars = 1.0353 ounces of silver.

3 40% Ikes = .9483 ounces of silver.

 

I suspected as much.

I guess it is a good thing that none of my coins have any numismatic value then. I only collect coins for bullion. But I still like them to look nice.

 

Same here, but I have yet to clean a coin. I'm actually thinking about cleaning a black 40% half that I have just for the fun of it. I don't mind some toning, but this one is UgLy!

 

I had one like that the other day. It was so black you could hardly tell what it was. I did a two stage cleaning on it. I let it sit in hydrochloric acid for about 6 hours. (mix salt+vinegar) and then scrubbed with tooth brush and baking soda for several minutes. That fascinating thing about this particular one is when it was done it actually looked better than most of my half-dollars. Obviously it was shiny and new looking but it actually had fewer scratches on it than most of my other circulated coins and thus looked even better. But when it was black, I couldn't tell that about it. I have to wonder what happens to coins to make them turn black like that.

 

Some coin set 40% silver is all that were made

 

I'll buy them if they're cheap enough, based solely on silver. I have no desire though unless I know I can make money.

 

Steel wool will get in to those really tight areas.

 

+1

 

Where needed correct cleaning helps to enjoy a coin more.