To wash or NOT to wash?

Heck no, they have video games for that.

 

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On BoobTube, no doubt!

Chris

 

Thank you! I take that as a compliment. Why was your clothes, car, armpits, dog, etc. if they get dirty. I would venture to guess that any dealer that actually knows anything about coins would consider soaking in soap and water, let along sonicating a coin in a solvent as being considered cleaning. I guess it's true what they say, what you DON'T KNOW won't hurt you.

 

Seriously ya’ll.... I handle my wife’s fine China differently than I do the daily dinner dishes. These are average grimy, nicotine stained common dimes. If a bit of soap and water makes them more enjoyable to the lady, why not?? We aren’t talking about mint state Morgan’s here.

 

Morgan's what?

 

It is to Mr. Bellman.

 

Isopropyl alcohol. Sorry, I use the stuff daily at work (I'm a chemist), so we use the acronym. I can't use the Indian variety at work unless I don't want to work anymore.

 

Here's the line, for me and the profession. Strictly chemical means, IF NOT OVERDONE, are fine. ANYTHING mechanical, including rubbing with soapy fingers, is over the line.

 

IMO never ever clean unless you no what you are doing, and then I still don't clean them.LOL
Dave

 

Don’t clean them.

 

Properly cleaning coins is ok.

Improperly cleaning coins of potential numismatic value is bad.

Improperly cleaning coins of no numismatic value is ok.

Properly cleaning leaves no trace of the cleaning. Don't do it for deceptive purposes.

Improperly cleaning leaves traces of the cleaning.

 

Yup... I would hate to be "THAT PASSENGER" with an unexperienced airplane pilot ! LOL

 

Sherry, my first question regarding your coin collection is: "What do you plan to do with your inherited coin collection?" If you plan to keep it and pursue some further coin collecting and possibly trading your coins with others suchas in coin shows or a coin dealer in your local town, then don't clean them, they look perfectly fine to me! However, you should consider asking these folks if the so-called "dipping process" is the way to clean those grimy coins is best OR NOT. I personally prefer to wash coins in hot, soapy Dawn-filled water to release any potential grime, dirt, and debris that doesn't shake-off the coins. I don't believe in rubbing coins, hairline scratches deteriorate the coin's value. With this all being-said to you, I digress back into my CT corner and pay attention to all these "Experienced" CT members and listen to all that each-any-all-of-them-have-to-say with your cleaning post. Good Luck... and make sure your coin flips are PVC-Free so they don't contaminate your coin's metal-composition(s).

 

@FrugalCO : I plan to keep the coins. I'm planning to continue this collection that my uncle started. It's a fun past-time.
He has several duplicate coins, so I may consider trading down the road...hence my question about cleaning. I don't want to diminish value for trading.
I plan to leave these dimes as they are and allow any future trader to clean them if they wish.
Thank you for all of the responses in this thread. Ya'll sure are an entertaining group of folk! lol

 

Exactly. When I mentioned cleaning with soap and water, did I say anything about scrubbing, rubbing, massaging, etc?

 

Even agitation, if not done with care, creates a problem. The action needs to be predominantly, if not exclusively, chemical as opposed to physically moving debris. I've tried several vessel bottom surfaces to avoid "rub".

I've been thinking what a Water-Pik might do.

 

And that is what soap does. See, detergents are surfactants that have one end that likes water (polar ions) and one side that likes oils and grease (non-polar compounds). So when you add water to soap, the one end acts like a solvent but is actually less harsh than a polar solvent (like acetone). Then you run some pure alcohol over it to remove any residues that may not have been rinsed off.

 

I am devastated, totally. After all of these years throwing them in the dishwasher or in a bag with my laundry was wrong?

 

I just put them in my pants pockets before laundering.... if that's not normal circulation, I don't know what is!

 

If people didn't clean antique Tiffany lamps, why don't they have a 1/2" of grime on them? There is cleaning, and there is destroying, and the line between them is very fine.