Preservation of Lincoln cents

I'm a newbie with a question. I attended a coin show yesterday, looked mostly at early Lincoln cents, and found most of them in 2x2 "cardboard" flips. It appeared to me that many, possibly all, of the coins had paper dust and other near-microscopic foreign material on them.

If I were to purchase such coins, should I do anything to "clean" them before putting them into plastic holders?

Thank you.

Bill

 

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DO NOT CLEAN THEM


airtites will protect them

stainless

 

Okay.

Bill (adjusting hearing aid)

 

lol...my bad....just so many people (including me when I started) clean ther coins, only to find out later that they aren't worth anything because of that fact.


stainless

 

Hi Bill,

I have been told not to blow on (breathe) on the coin because one's breath contains moisture.
If the cents are obviously circulated, a very soft artists brush applied lightly across the surface would work. However, be careful because I have tried a soft brush on a proof cent and it actually did leave tiny little scratches.
Lastly, maybe a rinse in distilled water and letting a cotton swab soak up the water. Be sure the coin is completely dry before encasing it in a plastic holder.

jeankay

 

Hi william123, welcome to Coin Talk. Like stainless said don't clean them. You could try a product that will blow of the paper dust. One of these product is called Blow Off.

Lou

 

I attended a coin show yesterday (my first in many years), and one dealer with a healthy selection of expensive early Lincolns told me that he (and other dealers) put a light gel on the Lincolns to preserve them. I was surprised -- and then noticed that his Lincolns seemed to have a "sheen" on them.

Comments?

Bill

 

And if you get a wrinkly bil, dont iron it: Newbie Mistake that I did on a 1980's $5 note! Not Good at all!

 

Bill, some people dip their coins ( especially copper) into a solution like Blue Ribbon preservative and cleaner, Coin Care, MS-70, etc under the guise of "protecting" the coin, but it also hides many defects as it is an oil ( often called lubricant) and tends to hide or minimize corrosion If it a pure based oil, probably wouldn't do any damage, but I disagree with its use myself. I make it a habit of putting all coins I purchase into a small container of acetone ( some prefer xylene) which will not endanger the coin, but will remove organic material such as yet unseen fingerprints or microscopic pvc deposits. and then into safe storage.

Jim

 

If you want to read something awful ( IMO) read this "authoritative page" on cleaning !!
Love the toothbrush, etc.
Jim

http://www.wikihow.com/Take-Care-of-Collectible-Coins

 

dont forget to get your coins blessed by GD yearly if you have a multimillion collection

 

Good God thats scary !!!

Welcome to the forum , Jim !!

 

Thanks Jack!
Always glad to find an interesting forum! I have enjoyed many of the postings.

Jim

 

At many camera stores they sell a compressed can of air with a nozel for small areas. If you feel the need to blow off dust on a coin, I suggest using one of those. Your breath is not a good idea. Not just due to moisture, Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide, etc. but some of the odors you smell called BD or bad breath is in reality dangerous gasses formed from decayed matter in the mouth or throat. This is why people that have attempted to clean a coin with spit find it does work to some degree but eventually the coins become all messed up looking. Always be carefull opening up those 2x2's. I once used a screw driver to pry up the staples and it slipped and ran accross a 1921S, MS-62 or better Cent. OOPPPs.
Regardless of dust, dirt, etc it is best to just leave the coins alone.
Old saying is to let sleeping dogs lie.

 

Howdy Bill. A hair-dryer (set it on "cold air") will blow a lot of that stuff off.

 

Be careful which brand you use. I used Endust Electronics on my dvd player once and it blew ice cold air and ice crystals into it and ruined the machine...and it was supposed to be for electronics. If it can do that to machines, just imagine what that would do to a coin!

I agree with Eddie...a hair dryer on a low setting would work if all you're doing is ridding a coin of paper fibers and light dust.
Guy~

 

preservation.............................

i agree with the removal of dust from the chosen "encapsulation" process. but i am not sure if i trust the canned air because of moisture in the propellent. sooooooooo what i do is use a rubber bulb to blow dust off of the coin before putting it in (in my case) an air-tite.
this bulb i'm referring to is the type used for flushing out your ears found at drugstores.
jmho

 

There is similar type brush available at most camera stores. Very soft brissles and a bulb for blowing air. The cans of air sold at most camera stores are used on cameras such as Leica's, Bronica's, Hasselblad's and even much cheaper Nicon's. I doubt there is anything in those cans that would hurt a multi thousand dollarHasselblad lens.