How and ways to clean a coin.

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by anchor1112, Sep 9, 2005.

  1. anchor1112

    anchor1112 Senior Member

    anyone have any ideas?. please tell us.
     
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. Speedy

    Speedy Researching Coins Supporter

    Don't...the ONLY way I do it and that is ONLY WHEN A COIN HAS PVC is with pure Acetone...cleaning coins take down the value...sometimes as much as 50%.

    Speedy
     
  4. bulldawg

    bulldawg Senior Member

    Your best bet is to never clean your coins. Any type of cleaning you do will do some kind of damage to it.
     
  5. Morgan Dollar13

    Morgan Dollar13 New Member

    Just don't clean them. Period.
     
  6. anchor1112

    anchor1112 Senior Member

    how to clean a coin?.

    during 1992, i bought some proof american silver eagle. i wrapped inside a padded envelope and kept for so many years. when i opened it up recently. some of the coins were with some black spot. it is because of pvc content inside the wrapped envelope. how can i clean them?. does dealers will willing to buy them?. will it be a big discount for that?. please help...
     
  7. Morgan Dollar13

    Morgan Dollar13 New Member

    Silver eagles are worth 2 times there silver value at most; my local coin dealer gives $7 for any eagle
     
  8. Speedy

    Speedy Researching Coins Supporter

    I don't think its PVC...PVC is green...not black...it might be carbon spots...or maybe some toning but I don't think PVC.

    Morgan Dollar...he is talking about PROOF ASE...so they would be worth more than $7...

    Speedy
     
  9. anchor1112

    anchor1112 Senior Member

    cleaning coins

    if it is carbon spot. should i clean or dip with some cleaning liquid?. or how can i clean those black spot?. clean or not clean, is the price of that piece will go down?.
     
  10. Speedy

    Speedy Researching Coins Supporter

    I wouldn't clean it...a carbon spot will take down the value but it will also take down the value to clean them...the best thing to do is leave them in the MINT holder.

    Speedy
     
  11. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    Carbon spots cannot be cleaned or removed from a coin - so attempting to clean it would gain you nothing. Cleaning any Proof coin will do nothing but reduce the value. Your best option is to sell the coin if you don't like it and buy a new one.
     
  12. anchor1112

    anchor1112 Senior Member

    cleaning the old coins

    i remembered many years ago. i use toothpaste and toothbrush to clean some of my dirty morgan dollars. well, it doesn't improve the image. instead it damaged the coins. i sold them right away for few dollars each. i think it's bullion value. well. what can i say. past is past. now i don't clean any coins. if i don't like it. i sell them.
     
  13. TOLS196024

    TOLS196024 New Member

    I have a few Standing Liberty quarters that I cleaned with a pecil eraser when I was younger. At the time I was immensely proud of myself and my newly brightened coins. Now all I can say is EEEK!!!
     
  14. cmccurdy

    cmccurdy New Member

    You've probably heard enough dont's and no-no's by now... but they're all right.... about the SAE's, they're not worth it. However if you have or find a good coin that's dirty and would have brought a premium otherwise, NGC has a service that will restore your coins for you. You can even have them cleaned, graded and slabbed all with one submission. If you have questions customer service can help you. I used this with a nasty gold peice i bought [cheap] and was VERY pleased with the results.

    Go to www.ngccoin.com and read about it. They even have some before and after pictures of some of their work. It's the NCS service.
     
  15. LordVger

    LordVger New Member

    Do they still make BonAmi?
     
  16. zaneman

    zaneman Former Moderator


    Do carbon spots only appear on certain types of metal? If so is it a result of oxidation?
     
  17. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator



    Typically on copper - I'm not going to say they can't appear on silver or clad, but I can't recall ever seeing any.
     
  18. jperry

    jperry Member

    Yes, and if you have All-Clad stainless steel cookware it works better than anything else. :D
     
  19. zaneman

    zaneman Former Moderator

    Are carbon spots usually brown or green-brown? If so I'm assuming they would just be copper oxidation. 2 Cu + O2----> 2CuO

    In which case, I would assume if you used something like sodium thiosulphate, or sodium hydrosulfite. Just conjecture though.
     
  20. zaneman

    zaneman Former Moderator

    Anyone have any input on this? I may have to try some strong reducing agents out. On non valuable coins of course..
     
  21. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator


    The ones I've seen are black.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page