Cleaning your coins.

I have that same penny.

 

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Thanks for the moral support. zg

 

Does it have a greater value than face?

 

Sure it does, but a coin that condition will probably be worth 20% of the value of it's details condition. I would say this coin has VG details...according to Red Book, a 1909 VDB in VG is worth $5.00. So, I'd say this coin is worth $1 or so.

 

Cool, nice mark up!!

 

Is it a VDB? I can't really tell from the pics...

I think the results are much nicer then the original. What did you do exactly?

 

I clean all of my coins in the dishwasher on the "pots and pans" setting. If that doesn't work, I use the power sprayer that I clean my deck with. You have to be careful though with the power sprayer, you could saw right through your foot if you're not careful. You ever try to hold a half-dime with your foot when you're hitting it with the power sprayer?

 

^yaiks!

 

:loud::loud::loud::loud::loud::loud:

 

So...question being...if you're not supposed to clean them, then how would you add this to your collection? That would need a pretty big envelope and make an awful mess in your sitting room



I wash all my coins with soap and hot water before they go into cases and never had any issues. I know industrial cleaners and acid baths, yes. But coins are made of metal, not cardboard, soap and water brushing isn't going to hurt them.

I read about 6 pages, and it seems like the reasoning behind it that keeps repeating in a loop is all about value. Washing modern day money drops the value (somehow?), but it's OK with Roman coins because washing them makes the value go up. If washing modern coins made the value go up, would it then be OK?

Even on Antiques Roadshow, they tell you that furniture polish is OK to use on antique furniture, because it will build up a layer of wax over time that will help protect the wood, and keep dust from grinding in the surface when items are placed on it. But they do advise never to professionally clean or restore it to where it alters the color of the finish (sanding and re-varnishing), as that would bad.

I collect coins because I love to do it and look at and manipulate these tokens of history, not because I'm collecting to make the headlines 20 years from now with a $500,000 coin collection and inspect every single coin with the Hubbell space telescope.

 

You're not going to ruin bad coins by cleaning them. Do you know what kind of coins you're going to ruin by cleaning them? Yeah, good guess, only the good coins.

 

At least knock the dirt off of it. : - ) If you use water, acetone, xylene on coins without brushing...no harm. Start brushing and you will see marks. Admittedly these marks only detract from the value, not from the "coolness" factor. If you use soap on the coins, the only admonition I would make is to make sure it is rinsed off THOROUGHLY! Residual stuff can go bad over time. I have started cleaning some ancient coins, and I am sure I overclean them. Read some of the ancient postings and you will see people complaining about cleaning all the patina off. Delicate balance here, remove enough crud to identify it and make it look good, but don't strip it. BTW, I have also seen on the Antiques Roadshow where they told people that since the furniture had been refinished it was worth $10 whereas if they had left it alone, it would be worth $10,000 (exageration).

 

Ebay is the biggest selling place for coins on the planet and many cleaned coins bring in good money.