Cleaning silver coins with vinegar (1941, 1942, 1942D, 1943D, and 1944 quarters)

Warning to purists: Skip this thread because I cleaned coins. I don't want to hear it.

I wanted some junk silver coins just so I could hear the way they sound when they are jiggled together. That sound is music to my ears. I placed an ad, and bought them off a fellow forum member (john1942sept, who is an asset to this forum and I highly recommend him) for $20. They were badly corroded as the pictures attest. They were immersed in water in 1944 and some of the rust got on the coins. I tried several different methods for removing the gunk, but none of them worked. I decided to try the vinegar method, which I didn't think would work. I soaked them overnight and was shocked that most of the corrosion was gone! I sent John a picture of the after pictures and he said that some of them are almost MS (I'm no expert on coin conditions) and that some of them are worth $20 or so. The only bad thing is that they turned out so nice that I'm going to put them in cardboard holders instead of jiggling them together. The 1943-D quarter still has some gunk on it, and the 1942 has a little gunk on the rim of the coin, but the improvement is staggering. I highly recommend this procedure for coins that are badly corroded. Flame me if you want, but I ended up with 5 nice quarters for a great price and turned 5 quarters that were in terrible shape into presentable coins. Thanks again, John.

Before:





After:

 

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Warning to janitors and maids everywhere. This is not the janitorial or maid cleaning tips and results forum. Write about your cleaning hobby and you will hear it (especially if you present crap as "almost MS").

I'm afraid that you may have butchered these nice coins. Silver corrodes at such a slow pace, I can safely say, your coins were nowhere near being corroded. You now appear to have whizzed coins, nowhere near MS. Believe it or not, they would have stayed in "as is" condition, in my hands. At least until I could find an appropriate source to properly dip them for me. I find the before pictures much more appealing than the after. Wouldn't pay a dime for what's in the after photos. Makes me a bit sad.

 

deleted. I don't wish to be banned from this site. I will now use the ignore function for the first time.

 

LOL. I knew you would spin it negatively. Oh well. I'm happy with them.

 

I think if this were a door knob and not coins, I would say nice cleaning job. But these aren't door knobs.

The toning on the original coins weren't very attractive, but today ugly MS toning is preferred over cleaned coins with lifeless surfaces. Would the resulting coins, 50 years ago, be considered BU?

 

Just tell people they were dropped in vinegar in 1944 accidentally after news of the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor reached the owner.

 

If you're happy with them, fine. Keep it to yourself, though. I wouldn't want a newbie to destroy their coins thinking that any of your methods are acceptable to the rest of the numismatic community.

And NO, they are not nice coins. Sorry for the negativity, but it's warranted here.

 

Vinegar contains a few percent of acetic acid. What you did was form iron acetate.
As most know, acid is extremely damaging to coins. EDTA is a better choice for removing rust stains from coins.

 

Retone them?

Just kidding. Don't become a coin doctor.

 

Well, you can always enlighten us with the positive spin on this travesty, at the risk of coming across like a bit of a head case (to put it mildly).

 

" . . .Flame me if you want, but I ended up with 5 nice quarters for a great price and turned 5 quarters that were in terrible shape into presentable coins. . . "

Vinegar Method - did you use white vinegar or regular vinegar?
Straight or diluted?

 

I'm not selling these coins so I don't care about value. I like the way they look and that's all that matters.

Is it bad to soak dateless buffalo nickels in vinegar?

 

Is it bad to soak dateless buffalo nickels in vinegar?[/quote]

HA. Do you care if it's bad?

 

Where does the iron come from?

 

I like to fill the s proof slots in my Whitman nickel book with the dateless buffalo nickels I find. Clean coins with water, vinegar is for french fries.

 

Who will you be presenting them to, Apu down at the Kwiki-Mart? I'm sure he'll be impressed.


You should get in touch with the guy with the rock tumbler and compare notes. You could certainly teach each other something new.

 

You guys are tough. However, Bugo, I like the results. Using those two sets of photos, and listing them on eBay, I would guarantee the "cleaned" set of coins would sell at a higher price (which merely proves the mentality of some eBay buyers). Remember, this comment is coming from someone who grew up in an era when harshly cleaning coins was acceptable...

 

Yep, worth melt, before and after. Jiggle away.