Hello, Hope all is well. Disclaimer: First post---new to this I've seen much debate about whether to clean or not clean(not referring to futile attempts to restore to original condition). I decided to go for it and clean some old wheats that I had by soaking in soap and water. Wow... now I'm hooked. The coins look so much more amazing without all the nasty dirt on them. Any post on this subject seems to be fairly old. I wanted to get new opinions before I do this across the board with old grimy wheats. (I know they're not worth much individually but many over years will collectively make a difference). ... or should I accept that coins is the only industry, or at least one of the few, that you can sell dirt without owning real estate.
it it harmful and detract from the value if cleaned with just mild soap? I should mention also with no intent to defraud of course...whats the difference and what does cleaning achieve? Thank you as I been very curious and would love to see nic shiny coins but don't want to destroy a nice collection as you could imagine. is there a proper way to do it?
I cleaned some old circulated Roosevelt dimes with a mixture of equal parts vinegar and lemon juice with a tablespoon of table salt. They looked amazing afterwards!... but they were a little too tart.
A safer way to clean coins is to soak them in dstilled water for a while. Then let them air dry and if there is some more debris on them then soak them in acetone. Acertone will not alter the surface of the metal and will disolve a lot of organic contamination. Then soak them is some more distilled water and air dry or put on soft towels and flip over, but do not rub them at any time. If there is green stuff it may be PVC goop from old storage flips. Acetone or Xylene may take care of that stuff. If it's Verdigris, then try Verdi-gone. It does work wonders if you do it right. Ask Bad Thad as he knows more about this than I do.
