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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Michael K, post: 4264250, member: 78298&quot;]You don&#039;t clean coins. This is a problem.</p><p>Coins do get dirty from handling, circulation etc. If a coin is only worth face value,</p><p>you aren&#039;t going to hurt the value by cleaning it. But if a coin is worth more than face value you can permanently damage that coin by improper cleaning.</p><p>Proper cleaning is very tricky also and should be reserved for experts, as well as &quot;conserving&quot; a coin. Experts.</p><p>Now back in the day, coins were routinely cleaned. People were proud of their collection and wanted to show them off. So they scrubbed the grime off of their coins down to a shiny finish. Before it was known and decided that this is a form of damage. When you scrub a coin harshly, you can get it to &quot;shine&quot;, but that is because you have stripped off an outer layer of metal and you are underneath that to the metal below it and it looks shiny. But any original patina, or luster or even a thin layer of surface metal has now been stripped off and that coin is permanently damaged and irreparable.</p><p>To beginners or non coin collecting people, this shiny coin seems more attractive than a dirty coin. But it is damaged goods and they will learn a harsh lesson if they pay a lot of money, and then later try to sell it.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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