I get this question in my email box a lot, "how do I clean my coins", so I thought I should post something here in public to try to prevent people from ruining the value of their coins. The first thing you'll hear if you ask a knowledgable coin collector is NO! DON'T! Don't clean your coins. Of course, most often we're talking about coins with little collector value anyway, but just in case you're one of the lucky few that actually stumbled upon a valuable coin, don't clean it. If you have a coin dealer in your area, or even better a coin club, drop by and talk to them about your coins. There are circumstances when a coin can, or even should, be cleaned. But generally you shouldn't try doing it until you determine what, if any, value there is in the coin. If you do decide to clean your coins, soaking in olive oil or mild soapy water is my preferred method to safely remove dirt or from a coin. To be honest, I've never used a chemical solution on a coin, for the purpose of cleaning. I'm sure some of our more experienced collectors here will have more to say about the subject.
Professional coin cleaning [I am new to coin forum and my question may seem foolish; anyway here goes. I have collected Morgan silver dollars for years, every since my deceased grandfather gave to me on my birthday. Many of these coins should be graded by a professional. The problem is the coins are in various stages of being dirty from storage and handling over the years. Question #1: will this effect the final grade; Question #2: are their professional coin graders who would clean coin so that it might be graded higher?}
They may grade lower because of their 'eye appeal' or lack of 'eye appeal'. If it is really dirt or grime, you could give them a rinse in (pure) acetone and it will take some things off as it is a solvent. It should not damage the actual coins in any way. However, depending upon what is underneath the dirt or grime, the coins may or may not look better afterwards. There is always a risk when you do anything to a coin. Acetone will not take off toning. There is a company that does 'conserve' coins and they are affiliated with NGC (one of the top tier grading services). The webiste for them is http://www.ncscoin.com/ Hope that helps.
mrkiser - First of all I would ask you to post some pics of the coins in question if possible. This would help us to make a decision if the coins you have warrant being conserved or curated - not all do. If you do not have the ability to share pics - then please list the dates and mints for the coins you have as well as what you think their grades are now. With many Morgan dollars it is not worth it to have them graded and/or conserved. Many of them are only worth $10 - $20 and it will cost more than that to have the work done. Now there are dates & mm where this is not the case - and they are deffinitely worth it. But with coins like these - it is highly inadvisable for someone to attempt to curate them if they are not very experienced at doing so. It is too easy to damage the coins. That brings us back to where I started this post
easy cleaning when i clean my coins i like to take one of those back massagers you can get from walmart for like 25 bucks and rip off the gel pad. place the coins in a babyfood jar full of distilled water. use an elastic bandage to attatch the jar to where the gel pad once was and youve got an ultrasonic cleaner.
stujoe is correct, Numismatic Guarantee Corperation has a section that conserves coins before certification. This is the only third party grading service that currently does this. ~ Jim
Hi all, I have been using ultrasonic machine to clean my oriental trade dollars (not the US trade$s specifically, but ones circulating in Asia in the late 1800s to early 1900s) and so far I have not noticed any bad side effects from it. Mostly the dirt came off from the coin. The coin is immersed in distilled water and is held in a bandage roll while in the cleaner. The cleaner I am using is the one used in the jewelry industry. Just my experience with cleaning coins. Lawrence
sonic cleaners do work on Silver and several other metals.They work basically by vibrating the dirt off the coin. There is no rubbing or other abrasive contact to a coins surface. Definately not to be used on Copper coins though! ~ Jim
For the what its worth department, another excellent dirt and tarnish/bad toning remover is really clean automatic transmission fluid. Picked that trick up from the old owner of Carolina Coin. Be carefull and rinse the ATF off good or it will tone the coin but not as pretty. Not recommended for Silver or Gold coins. A2J
