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<p>[QUOTE="-jeffB, post: 6470382, member: 27832"]There are a few things that make cleaning go wrong:</p><p><br /></p><p>1) Rubbing. Don't rub coins with <i>anything</i>. Even soapy fingers can drag bits of sharp dirt across the coin and leave scratches.</p><p><br /></p><p>2) Chemical reactions. Ketchup (or its ingredients, vinegar and salt) will turn a coin bright by dissolving away the oxides on the coin's surface -- but they won't stop there. They'll start to dissolve the metal as well, leaving tiny pits.</p><p><br /></p><p>3) Residue. Anything water <i>leaves behind</i> on your coin can form deposits, or even react chemically with the coin (see above).</p><p><br /></p><p>If you just <i>soak</i> a coin in distilled water, then let it dry <i>without</i> rubbing it, you're unlikely to damage it. To be honest, if you soak it in soapy water and rinse it thoroughly with tap water, then once with distilled water, you may be fine.</p><p><br /></p><p>And if it's just a common circulated coin, don't worry much about it. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> Try different things, and see what they do. Just bear in mind that the longer you spend looking at coins, the more you'll be able to see -- and evidence of cleaning is something that long-time collectors really <i>don't</i> like to see.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="-jeffB, post: 6470382, member: 27832"]There are a few things that make cleaning go wrong: 1) Rubbing. Don't rub coins with [I]anything[/I]. Even soapy fingers can drag bits of sharp dirt across the coin and leave scratches. 2) Chemical reactions. Ketchup (or its ingredients, vinegar and salt) will turn a coin bright by dissolving away the oxides on the coin's surface -- but they won't stop there. They'll start to dissolve the metal as well, leaving tiny pits. 3) Residue. Anything water [I]leaves behind[/I] on your coin can form deposits, or even react chemically with the coin (see above). If you just [I]soak[/I] a coin in distilled water, then let it dry [I]without[/I] rubbing it, you're unlikely to damage it. To be honest, if you soak it in soapy water and rinse it thoroughly with tap water, then once with distilled water, you may be fine. And if it's just a common circulated coin, don't worry much about it. :) Try different things, and see what they do. Just bear in mind that the longer you spend looking at coins, the more you'll be able to see -- and evidence of cleaning is something that long-time collectors really [I]don't[/I] like to see.[/QUOTE]
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