Should I clean my war nickels?

I think I probably know the answer to this question before I ask it, but, I'm curious what people's thoughts are. Obviously, antique coins should not be cleaned usually, that is, any coin with a numismatic value. What about war nickels though? Right now, there is no numismatic value at all and they sell for at or below spot...so is there any harm in making them shiny? My thoughts are that right now there is no numismatic value, so in the short term it probably wouldn't hurt if I were selling them sometime in the next few years, but, that there could be some numismatic value down the line, so, I probably shouldn't. I think they have a pretty neat story. And they sport my favorite president, which is a lot of the reason I like them. So, to clean or not to clean?

 

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Leave them alone it won't make a difference.

 

Post pics so we can see what you have. You might just need an acetone bath.

 

Do you have any Pictures of these " dirty " coins ? I personally would leave them be , let their character live . You can use Acetone if need be like @BlackberryPie said but we need some photo's please .

 

If they are worn and only have silver value, a cleaning won't matter.

 

If you're sure you can't hurt them, they're your coins, go for it.

 

Question about those war time nickels, the '42s, are they more rare with, or without, the mint mark? Thanks

 

If you look in a Red Book, you will find that the 1942 nickels with no mintmark are not silver.

 

The wartime ones were made later in the year so there are earlier 1942s that aren't silver and their tiny branch mint marks are just to the right of the building.

 

Thank you both. I know the ones with no mint mark are the non silver ones, I'm curious, which is more rare, which was produced less, the silver, or the non silver ones. Guess that's easy enough to look up, lol.

 

On later Jefferson nickels, the mint mark was transferred to the obverse of the coin and the tiny figures of two guys having a cigarette outside was substituted.

 

We are just caretakers for the coins. Leave them alone, especially if you do not know what you are doing, ESPECIALLY just to "make them shiny". Buy yourself a bright BU example if you want a shiny one.

 

Leave 'em be........there's something romantic about those old worn, almost lifeless disks............Takes me back to an innocent time in my life..........can't put a 'shine' on that.

 

Don't have them handy at the moment for pics. It's good to know that an acetone bath could be an option. Probably just going to leave them, but curious what the sentiment was. As an aside, one of them was toned a bit like the coin in your pic. Pretty neat. Not nearly as colorfully toned, but had a goldish tone. Love the history of these coins...

 

In circulated grades, the silver 42 version is worth more just because of the silver content. When you step into a 65 grade or better, prices are similar.

 

I almost shivered when I saw "cleaning and coins so close together" right now the cleaning will make the pretty but after that they'll ALWAYS be labeled CLEANED COINS even 100 years from now. I personally would not clean them. I find coins in junk boxes at flea mkts that have a clear varnish on them to preserve the shiny surface (didn't work) years ago. now they sit in a junk box.

 

I'lol make it simple-No!

 

War nickels are a significant part of a historical event. In my opinion, I would not clean them. Good luck with you're decision.

 

It won't hurt to do a little experiment - how many war nickels do you have? You could clean a few and see what happens to them.

 

An acetone bath to remove organic grime won’t hurt them nor render them “cleaned”. The problem is improperly cleaning because you don’t know what you’re doing. Making them “shiny” makes them appear un-natural. Acetone will not disturb the surfaces, but it is not foolproof. Removing dirt and grime may expose a protected area and leave the coin with a mottled appearance...jmho...Spark