cleaning silver coins with aluminum foil, baking soda, and boiling water.

Just for that, I'm tossing a few coins into the rock tumbler right now. :devil:

 

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I about fell out of my chair reading this! Best post of the year! :too-funny:

 

I clean my silver coins like this all the time. Been doing it for decades now with ALL of my silver items.
I dont give a squat about collector value so stuff it if you say dont do it...theyre MY coins to do with as *I* wish. Im melt the things down for bullion if I so choose.
I want my coins and bullion sparkling and THIS method is the only one that DOESNT REMOVE the silver / tarish, but converts it back into silver causing ZERO damage to your silver piece.

 

Don't start off with a bad attitude, of course you can do whatever you want with your coins. You are right, the aluminum foil method does convert the silver oxide back to silver, but it is not still adhered to the rest of the metal. It can flake off and eventually leave them worse than when you started.

 

I'm glad you believe that. If you ever try to sell your coins, a buyer won't.

 

There is not a chance I will ever like you personally. You are Edited kanguage on everything true numismatists hold as appropriate collecting behavior. Fortunately this forum allows me to make this the only post I'll ever see from you.

 

You really know how to get off on the right foot with people, don't you? Guess it gives you all the time in the world to boil and scrub your coins. We generally welcome new members into the fold but there is an exception to every rule.

 

I do not understand your answer. I am a new member but I don't think your blanket statement is necessary. I think a better post would be to say something like: "Don't clean your coins unless you know what you are doing."

Are you a Morgan dollar collector? Have you ever cleaned one of your coins? If you have not because you don't know how; then your advice is well taken for yourself.

I have cleaned coins and had them slabbed or sold them to dealers for most of my life. NCS cleans coins too but they are far more experienced than I.

I worked in a coin shop/jewelry store in the 1970's. The jeweler cleaned, plated, restored, watches, coins, and jewelry. One of his tricks used electricity similar to the video but he also used different electrochemical baths.

 

In Context, please consider that the post you quoted was over 3 years ago.

 

Oh, thank you. I see the date now. I was just browsing and the cleaning stuff popped up. I will be more careful.

 

I tried it on junk silver coins once, and based on what I saw, I decided that I would not use this method again. I felt it looked like I had cleaned them, and it was not reversible. I would have hated to do this to a valuable coin!

And for what it is worth, yeah, it looks like it is an old thread. Oops.

 

The vast majority of new members have no experience at all involving cleaning, so no matter what the age, we say do not clean your coins. It is similar to mom saying "don't get into the street' to protect us until we know what the street risk actually is. Most members realize that there are many threads concerning cleaning and more opinions than when will it snow again. Many members who started here with "Don't clean your coins" was protected from damaging a valuable inheritance or collections.

 

So..... Is this coin a good candidate for this method of cleaning??? AU something worth about $8 and the obverse really bugs me!! I had not heard of this method until today and it sounds like a fun little science experiment to do with the kids honestly

 

I don't understand. I saw this post today on coin chat under cleaning coins w/foil. I read it and posted a comment. You pointed out it was from 2013:

Now someone posted another photo. I'll assume this is open for current comment now and that Super Dave (the member I reported) was old news and that's why you wrote to inform me. I'm new and don't wish to break any rules. Speaking of which...The day I joined I tried to read the rules and could not get in. I tried to ask a question in the "value" forum and could not. I also could not leave any "likes." Now I can leave likes and I will try to "open" the rules section. I'll assume the different functions and options took a day or two to open for me.

 

The host computer seems to be under stress lately and some are having trouble with the editor and posting. Patience is hard for some, but it help here, as we can't do anything about it.

 

I'd say yes and you'd probably be surprised at the results. As long as you're careful with the tinfoil and don't rub the coin it should improve how it looks, the key part is being patient and just allowing the coin to sit for a good 15 minutes before removing and then rinsing. You can always repeat if necessary adding more baking soda if need be to the original solution.

 

Thanks friend, ok last question-
I have a 10k gold necklace that has some black tarnish on it, I've tried acetone and jewelry cleaner and also soap and water, but NOTHING has really worked thus far, can I use this method to clean it too??? Thank you in advance

 

@heavycam.monstervam doesn't work for gold you're gonna have to use a jewelry dip for that. You can use E-Z-est coin dip if you have some on hand as I use it on my wife's gold jewelry with no issues when it starts getting grimy.

 

To be honest - you can't really stop anyone doing whatever they want. If someone wants to clean their coins, be my guest. But if they want to cry over spilled milk as the numismatic value drop due to their actions - the best consolation that I may offer is a bucket and mop.

My opinion is that cleaning and conservation are two different things. While cleaning is not accepted, conservation is a very skilled technique which attempts to remove unwanted junk while preserving patina.

 

Thanks bliss, you da man.... I'll have to go out and buy some more jewelry dip as I've burnt mine up on jewelry and removing haze from proof coins.