Need help in finding a way to get these coins from my mother looking better. It's nice to get some coins from mom but would like them to shine for her.
Leave them just the way they are! Explain to your Mom that polishing coins can hurt their value. Chris
Thanks mom!... Can you flip the morgans around please Leave them alone. They look good as is and you can't really do anything to safely make them "more shiny"
Leave them alone. I'll repeat. The only way I'd recommend cleaning them is SOAK in acetone then either let air dry or rinse with water and carefully without rubbing blot dry. So not rub or scrub at all. This will cause damage
Leave them be. It's the best thing for the coin and your mom. Any cleaning, buffing, polishing or dipping will lower the value. You don't need them to shine.
Polishing coins is like finding a mint condition 1953 Corvette in a barn then grinding off the finish and spray painting it with Rustoleum!
Why do some say soak them and some say don't? I'm getting mixed review here? Is there a way to get the dirt off of them without "polishing" them?
Simply: Leave them alone, collectors prefer natural, and the dirt is natural Ignore anyone who says to clean them
There is no dirt on those coins, what you are seeing is the silver starting to tone. The general consensus for con collectors is to not remove this toning, but instead to store it properly to slow the toning process down as much as possible. You are not getting mixed messages here, there are generally accepted methods to conserve coins, but anything that would shine them up would not fall into that category. Leave them alone.
That look fine. Nice original skins. I see nothing to "fix". And some are saying don't use acetone because you shouldn't. If it does remove any dirt or gunk the metal underneath could've aged at a different rate and you will be left with splotches. Just leave them.alone. they look great for their grades! Now, can we get pics of the reverse of the morgans please
Skully - you're not going to improve the value of these coins by doing anything to them. They are circulated coins and if you scrub the dirt off they will still be circulated coins. However in removing the dirt you also remove the surface finish from the coins. That in turn will expose them to the air and possibly tarnish them faster. The only coin showing that has any potential value is the 1900 Morgan but in that grade you're not talking big bucks. Cascade asked you to flip them so he can see the mint marks. So if you can take a photo of the reverse it would be helpful.
Ok, I get it and thank you all. I will NOT touch them. Just needed some good advice and it looks like I got it. I will send reverse pics later when I get a chance.
Don't worry about Cascade. He's just one of those loopy Morgan variety collectors, and he wants to see the reverses so he can try to attribute them.
if you clean them.... you will KILL their value. leave them as is. a shiny old coin no one will want to buy and they will only give you silver melt value for them. if you leave them as is...you will get their numismatic value... which is way more than silver melt value. explain this to your mother in case she has more old coins. some old better graded coins may have a shiny luster not to be confused with cleaned, polished, buffed, harshly cleaned.
If you are going to rinse after an acetone soak, then distilled water ONLY. I wouldn't rinse though. The acetone evaporates almost immediately once it's been pulled. No need to dry and potentially contact the coin's surface.
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