Scrubbing Bubbles works great! As a collector of vintage razors, I learned of this many moons ago, and have used the chemical successfully on several 1930s Gillettes and one 1950s Schick. Not sure it would be a good idea on vintage coins.
In all seriousness, though, I recently received a 1996 ASE that has a chalky appearance to it. Since this is bullion and not a collectible coin, I view this as a potential experiment. @Kentucky tutored me on the almost exclusive use of distilled water and acetone for non-critical coins.
Warm water and mild soap. Pat down to dry, do not rub. This minor treatment might cause a body bag to come back from a Third Party grader. There are thousands of very rare coins that have been numismatically destroyed by cleaning. If you want to make your coins worthless for resale, knock yourself out.
Forget the soap ! Soap leaves a residue on coins that is tough to get back off of them. It can be done, but you need to use additional chemicals to do so.
I am sitting here with a beautiful 1903-o Ten dollar Eagle that would grade MS63 except for the fact that it was rubbed down. I was offered less that spot yesterday. The funny thing is that this coin would have been very easy to conserve if the previous owner had the knowledge to handle the coin properly.
The original metal surface of a freshly minted coin is unique. It is created on a molecular level by the flow of metal into the devices of the die. Certain external coatings can be mitigated by professionals. The processes are closely guarded secrets. If you think you can fool a numismatic expert destroying your coins in the process, because you know how to degrease your tools after an oil change, you might want to apply to NCS and see if they have any open janitorial positions.
Thanks for the info. I used a very diluted soap and very short duration. Sometime removing dirt can make a coin look funny and that is bad enough to mess up a coin.
I'm an old coin cleaner from waaaaaaay back and have ruined many coins. Some I think I have helped. First, there are two classes of coins, really new looking coins (uncirculated, almost uncirculated, XF and proof) and older worn coins. The primary thing NOT to do with the new looking coins is to wipe or rub them. This will cause lines on the coins, even with clean, soft cloths, because it tends to scrub whatever grit that is on the surface over the coin, scratching them. On older coins, it isn't as objectionable since they already have a myriad of scratches. As far as other cleaning agents go, the safest is always pure solvents as Doug (@GDJMSP ) has already mentioned. If you use any other agent other than pure solvents, you should bend over backwards to remove those agents by rinsing with pure solvents. Then there are ancient coins..................
Toothpaste is not so abrasive anymore. They used to make it with ocean sediment composed of the hard parts of dead protozoan sea life. It was like ground glass and actually damaged teeth over time. Today they make it with microscopic plastic beads so it scours teeth clean without damaging them. If you clean the coins gently with toothpaste on a soft cloth, rinse and pat dry, it will do a very nice job without damaging the coin or affecting the surface quality or luster. First try it on some pocket change to see what you get before you use it on your collectibles.
You may have had 'success' with this, but it is certainly not an avenue I would advise anyone to take with their own coins. You're saying that microscopic plastic beads won't damage microscopic flow lines? (Not trying to be argumentative, I just find it difficult to buy into the thought process behind this)
Toothpaste will ruin the coin. It will shine up a metal detecting find, but it is not advised to use it on a coin with value. I've used it to shine up elongated cents I have found and it works, but it will damage a real coin.
