LETS PLAY PRETEND....

LETS PLAY PRETEND!

Let’s pretend that the “iron clad rule” against cleaning coins didn’t exist and you wanted to clean some coins, how would YOU do it?

Went through a box of half dollars and found 3 proof Kennedy’s in the box. But they need a good cleaning. Other than “Don’t do it” what would you suggest?

 

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Spend them.. That's what I would do.

 

Chip, can I first ask you a question? Do you understand why we don't clean coins?

 

It's the first thing I teach any collector, that's why I ask, and I've taught them from grammar school and up.

 

The 1988-S on the right is so marked up that it has not value beyond 50 cents. The 1984-S has no need to be cleaned. At any rate the value if the Proof sets is so low from this era that messing with coins would yield no benefit, even you knew how to do restoration work.

 

There is no such thing . . . depending on how you define "cleaning".

 

Well, I have nothing more to contribute here, which hasn't already been said, but I sure am glad you didn't heed previous advice from another thread (die chip! ).

 

If there's no "iron clad rule" against cleaning coins, then I'm guessing condition no longer matters in your 'Lets Play Pretend' thread. That being said, how about a Dremel Rotary Tool with a wire wheel?

 

If you want to stand a very good chance of ruining a coin, go ahead and clean it. We can talk about the hazards of cleaning until we are blue in the face, but if you’re determined, have at it. It’s your funeral.

 

I can’t say I didn’t anticipate the responses I received but again, IF you were going to clean hem, HOW would you do it?

I am not of the serious collector status of you. I’m not interested in ROI. I collect for my own pleasure and the beauty of the coins themselves and I enjoy the beauty of a sparkling coin that I can see as best as possible, the details given by the engraver

 

In my opinion this is much like a detector guy that pulls a crusty Barber dime from the ground. To me that dime belongs to him and if a cleaning will allow him to enjoy the piece then have at it. Personally I have never cleaned or otherwise altered a Coins surface. However if I wanted to, I know the piece belongs to me.

 

I agree with this opinion for badly worn or corroded common date coins, but when you mess up a really scarce coin, of which a limited number are known, you are ruining things for future generations of collectors.

Here is a minor example, but it applies. This 1861 Proof dollar was once a wonderful original coin according to a dealer I know, who saw it before it was cleaned bright white. The person who did this destroyed the Proof surface for the most part and 80% of the value. I sold this to a dealer for $1,000. If it had been left alone, it would have been worth $5,000 or more.

 

Ouch. I fully agree. And again I reiterate that I have never altered a coin and don’t condone it. I just feel we are maybe too stringent with the concept. Last year a lady came here with a handful of common date and average worn Mercury dimes left to her by her grandfather. Her grandfather was a heavy smoker and the dimes were coated in nicotine. She couldn’t enjoy them that way and simply wanted to wash them in dish soap so she could enjoy them. The members here lambasted her for the thought and I felt it was grossly overly harsh..... I just think we should be more practical about the concept sometimes.

 

I have zero problem with 'washing' a coin or taking the time to remove a substance that can cause damage or is noxious. Wish I'd seen the thread.

I mean, there's washing, stabilizing, dipping, scrubbing, whizzing, polishing 'restoring', (not to mention artificial toning, doctoring, etc...shoot lets add a mintmark while we are at it). Some are helpful, some are destructive, some are deceptive.

What happened to the proof dollar above is sad. Washing off a bunch of nicotine deposit or pvc residue is helpful and desirable.

OP (having never read any of your threads before), yes those are your coins to do with as you please. They are of little numismatic value as far as I know.

So, it all depends on what you mean by 'cleaning'. Some are nevers (pencil erasers on wheat cents from childhood...ouch and I cringe at that memory, but boy those Lincolns shone!).

If you are interested in 'sparkling coins' then it might be better to buy them thusly. That said, you can practice dipping on these two coins to your hearts content and when/if you ruin them by overdipping then you haven't really harmed the hobby. Someday you might find one that really would benefit and you'll have developed the skills. And skills are needed.

But, look at that 1861 dollar and understand that it was ruined. If the previous owner had wanted a white coin then s/he should have bought one that way rather than allow that to happen. I suspect s/he either did it themselves or instructed their dealer to do so and a beautiful coin was ruined. It may be 'white' but not sparkling, not as it was intended, and not beautiful if it is as lusterless and drab as it appears in the photos.

So, take your modern and plentiful coins, make them how you want or learn how NOT to mess them up.

But I will say, never clean with abrasives, scrub, pencil erasers, dremel etc . Other than that, do some reading and figure out how to properly select both coin and method.

In the interests of disclosure I am no kind of expert and my leanings are for a natural surface but one that is stable (in fact recently sent a couple medals to someone to check out to make sure they were stable as I was unsure and not about to mess with them).

In any case, there are many more out there who know exactly how to do cleaning. My 'supply' shelf consists of distilled water, acetone, xylene (a newer thing for me), and a bottle of MS-70 which RARELY gets applied and usually in a very dilute amount. No Ez-Zest in my house.

 

Buy some EZest from your local coin shop and dip those Kennedy Halves in that solution for a few seconds, then rinse. But also:

1. Only do this with silver or nickel coins, it will turn copper or bronze an unnatural pink.
2. Only do this with uncirculated coins, or AU58 coins. Anything with more wear will kill the luster and often reveal worse problems.
3. If you have more questions, ask them here first.

 

See, practical advice! Perfect! Get the rinse right too...poorly rinsed coins aren't done any favors.

 

Completely agree. And the other side of this whole thing is the sad truth. While all posting here would condone proper cleaning for practical reasons, there are just as many nefarious folks out there that will damage a Coins surface to mislead an uneducated buyer. As a youngster I was lured into a Peace dollar purchase. That dollar gleamed like a 1956 Cadillac bumper. And unfortunately I fear there are more cases of deceptive cleaning/polishing like this than there are otherwise.

 

1) I would SAFELY CLEAN them by soaking in water. Water doesn't interact with the metal in the coins. It can, however, dislodge or remove dirt particles that may exist on the coins. Frankly, in this case, I don't think water will have much effect.

2) Next, I would SAFELY CLEAN them by soaking in acetone or xylene. These compounds won't interact with the metal in the coins. They can, however, dislodge or remove any accumulation of organic materials that may exist on the coins. This is a particularly helpful step for circulated coins that may have gunk from decades of handling and environmental exposure, but again, I'm not optimistic they will provide much benefit for your proofs.

3) Given that these are low value modern proofs, rather than rare coins like the 1861 proof dollar posted by @johnmilton, I would consider experimenting with MS70. Many posters here, including Doug, have said that MS70 is particularly effective on modern CuNi proof coins. I haven't tried it myself, but if I had coins like yours that needed help and the downside risk was minimal, I'd give it a try . . . but I would dilute the MS70. You can always soak longer if the solution is too weak, but you can't un-soak.

 

There are way to many different metals in coins and various ways to clean them. Each chemical will react differently to a metal. Put bleach on a copper, silver, clad or a nickel coin and you'll get 4 different results. I stand by the rule NEVER CLEAN A COIN!! If you ruin it, you can't fix it.

If you cut a piece of paper it will never be the same. You can glue it, or can tape it but it will never be the same.

If you're bent on cleaning then I would suggest you use a few crappy zlincolns and experiment.