Newbie question, I did search but wanted to ask for a slightly different reason. Aside from uncirculated and proof silver coins, I am starting with silver half dollars from circulation. Since it is not an uncirculated, and not a proof, not slabbed, what is an acceptable way to clean/disinfect the coin quickly before putting them in coin tubes? Is warm soapy water ok? I had 6 rolls that i went through, and after 40 years of circulating.... hands get dirty, etc.... so what is acceptable?
If you are that worried about it, I would dip them in acetone, but really, I wouldn't do anything. My experience with circulated coins is that their problems aren't related to oils/issues picked up from circulation, and thus removing them doesn't buy you much (copper, particularly if it has some remaining mint red, may be an exception to this rule).
my primary concern is just making sure these coins are clean to handle without leaving crap on your hands.
Why not just get cotton coin gloves to keep your hands from getting dirty? YOu really shouldn't clean coins at all..as far as US stuff goes. If you want a pair, PM me..I have an extra that I can just mail you. stainless
maksimfa - never use soap. Soap leaves a residue on the coins that is difficult to get off. And it will harm the coins down the road. If you hold a coin correctly you don't have to worry about your hands getting dirty. Hold them by the edges only. But when you are searching through a large amount of coins that can be rather hard to do, I know. So don't worry about, you can wash your hands after and not hurt anything. Washing the coins however may hurt them. So it is best to just leave them alone. I would suggest that you spend some time reading what you can find in this section of the forum - Numismatic Resources - and I would start with this section first - Beginning Coin Collecting You can find answers to just about all of your questions by spending some time in that section of the forum.
