EVERY TIME I raise the question of cleaning coins, there is a hue and cry that makes the Salem witch trials look very tame indeed. Obviously there is some true pain much like certain groups felt the morning after the 2016 Presidential elections. I expect a crowd of torch wielding Spanish Inquistadors to start pounding on my doors screaming “BLASPHEMERS!” and awakening my neighbors. That’s ok. I’m used to it. I have in-laws. So my question is : DOES IT REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE? Does somebody pay more for a coin that is cruddy, muddy, and mostly unseen versus a coin where you can easily see the beauty and the flaws in it? I’m kind of comparing it to an arranged marriage. If one option is coveted head to toe in a burkhah and has lovely eyes but the rest is invisible and the one behind Door #2 has a bikini and I can see stretch marks, scars and tattoos but overall is a pleasing package, which one holds more value to me? Please understand I am saying this mostly tongue in cheek but also with a liberal dash of true wonderment as well. Or am I full of edited. Again?
Can't stop flirting with disaster, huh?.... I posed the same question several ways a while back. I also play with old cars and there is a movement in the old car hobby for what is called "survivor" cars. These beasts are pulled out of an aging barn with fifty year old oil and fuel. Covered in spiders and varmints. Yet, they command a premium....... Now, I love a blast white coin and I love a polished shining old car. But fact is, once a coin is tempered with, it is tampered with forever. So in most if not all cases, yes leave the burka on your coins.
I know I have some proof LMC,s that have a bad fog look and I'd really like to clean them but I'm just not sure?
Generally, yes- it does matter. Proper cleaning in forms of restoration such as that offered by services like NCS (https://www.ngccoin.com/ncs-conservation/) don't clean a coin necessarily to give it the appearance of a higher grade, as much as they just remove tarnish that may be undesirable. Improper cleaning however, such as someone polishing junk silver, whizzing coins, or cleaning with a toothbrush are done to give a more circulated coin a newer appearance, often. Even TPG services dip coins into a little soapy water solution sometimes before they encase it. So I feel that the line is between properly cleaning something, and improperly cleaning it. In my opinion, there are very few forms of cleaning that I would consider proper and I would rather buy a coin with original surfaces than one that has been altered or cleaned.
Yes, but it's different for each individual - UNTIL YOU INTRODUCE THE CONCEPT OF FUTURE WORTH/VALUE. Once you admit intent to unload it...that causes the problem. Otherwise, don't worry about other opinions & just collect what you like (just don't you dare clean a coin you don't plan to keep for eternity ). Uh, oh....
For me there are two terms in play here: cleaning and conserving. Cleaning is generally considered a no-no. Conserving is not. Difference? Cleaning changes the surface of a coin. Conserving removes contaminants from the surface of a coin.
@Chip Kirkpatrick An experienced numismatist WILL be able to spot most cleaning attempts. TPGs will not grade them and the values are reduced. There are techniques that may not be detected, but to accomplish this, you really need to have a decent understanding of chemistry and metallurgy, along with a lot of experience. Each coin is different, so you need to understand the risks and probability of success every time you consider cleaning a coin. And one mistake, you've significantly reduced the value. There is no one size fits all advice. It is extremely difficult to converse a coin correctly, and very, very easy to screw it up. That's why you constantly here "never clean coins". You are free to do whatever you want, however, I can almost guarantee that whatever you try will be detectable and the value of your coins will be reduced
Any cleaning permanently altars the surface of the coin. Once that is done there is no going back. Conversation of a coin is different and requires an expert. You do realize you are flirting with danger don't you?
Cleaning coins will crash the value period. The best story that comes to mind is the rich gentleman who purchased a expensive double eagle. Ignored everyone and cleaned it. $250, 000 coin down to less than $10, 000.
I'm not totally sure about this assessment so I'm offering it to try to understand more of @Chip Kirkpatrick reason for the repetitive coin cleaning threads. Here goes... Chip, my understanding is that you're an avid metal detectorist. In your hunt you dig up severely encrusted, dirty, almost illegible finds. Sometimes you probably get a hit, dig it up, and can't even determine if what you've found is a coin or possibly a button or possibly even a belt buckle. In those situations I'm a supporter of gently washing away the crud to at least help identify what you've found. Improper cleaning beyond merely identification is where the line gets murky since your find was a worthless hunk of metal anyway. Could this be the root of some of your queries?
So using acetone or xylene is conserving and not cleaning? How about dipping? Soap and water, or just distilled water would be conserving, according to your definition. If that's the case, then I won't worry so much!
And yet, cleaning a coin used to be acceptable and regularly done in past years, and I've read several articles from collectors that believe all older coins have been cleaned at some point in their life.