Cleaning old coins

Wise words. That's what it's all about.

 

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Don't do it

 

Glue maybe

 

How would that work?

 

If it is glue you could soak it in acetone and it will come right off.

 

Glued into a loose coin book. I even did that many many years ago

 

Ohh. I see what you ment. It definitely not glue. Its definitely metal from the penny its self. You can see where it was either melted, or displaced somhow

 

Please do not clean your coins you will not be happy and you will ruin the coin.

 

Some electronic hobbiests used them for cleaning the tips of a small soldering iron during "tinning" the iron ( melting a little drop of solder on the tip , melting it, then smearing it over the tip in a thin layer using something copper, such as a Lincoln cent or a Mexican centavos coin to remove excess and transmit the heat well..

 

The stock answer is "Don't clean your coins". A better answer might be "If your coins are damaged by cleaning they will become worth less but never less than face value. Take care if you feel you must clean and if you think they are worth any more than face, take extra caution not to leave any cleaning material on the coin."

 

My dad brought up another idea, we both reload ammo, and a step in it is to clean the shells in a tumbler, using a walnut media, would that work without using harsh chemicals?

 

NO!! This will also alter the surface of the coin. As pointed out previously, anything that noticeably alters the surface will reduce the value of the coin. It's like using coarse sandpaper to wash your car before selling it. It will remove the dirt, and not affect how it runs, but you can bet that the value will be reduced.

 

I see. Well it was worth a try asking

 

Not at all. Just banging around in the timber will add dents, dings and scratches not to mention the media used for cleaning will destroy the surface of the coins.

 

Sorry, but replies about cleaning, or not cleaning, need to be more helpful. If I dig up a coin that is in a muddy state, it isn't good enough to leave it as it is. There must be ways of basic cleaning of coins that doesn't damage them ? Replies welcome from those who have useful, and practical, experience.

 

You can rinse off the coin. Air dry or very lightly with a gentle cloth.
But if it is any kind of rare coin or key date, any attempt to conserve it by a non professional will kill the value of it.
If it is just a junk silver coin, or an old wheatie that isn't rare you could clean it, since you probably aren't selling it anyway.
I've seen You Tube videos where a guy is metal detecting, digging up Indian Heads and old early Lincolns, and then he proceeds to clean them with a WIRE BRUSH.
I told him he is turning a $10 coin into a 1 cent coin, but he said he didn't care and likes the way they look (after he destroys them).
But in terms of collecting coins, cleaning is a no-no. Coins were routinely cleaned many years ago, people proud of their collections and wanted to show off shiny clean coins. But that kind of cleaning strips off a layer of metal on the surface which can never be returned, and close examination shows that these coins are ruined, even though they may look clean.

 

Every situation is unique and is dependent on the coin and experience/knowledge of the person doing the cleaning. In order to offer an opinion on cleaning, you have to know; what are you trying remove, is it physically adhered (dirt), chemically reacted (toning), corrosion, verdigris or some combination? You also have to assess the knowledge level of the person asking the question. Do they know what cleaned coins look like? Do they know about hairlines? Do they understand the chemistry? Can the safely use chemicals?

You can see where doing the initial assessment can get very detailed, very quickly. But how you can you offer specific advice without that information. Let’s look at a driving analogy. Somebody asks, “how can I be a better driver”? Is this person a 16 year old just starting, or a professional race driver trying to improve their lap times at Indy. What kind of vehicle are they driving, Prius? Ferrari? 18 wheeler?

You also need to consider that most of these questions are coming from new collectors who likely have very little experience. Like the new driver, you aren’t going to teach them about trail braking and late apexes, when they just need the basics. And like a new driver, you don’t want to give them the keys to a Ferrari at Indianapolis, you give them safe, conservative information, especially since you can’t be with them every step of the way to make sure they don’t make any mistakes.

Bottom line is most of us don’t have the time to flush out all of the details from a newbie, and in all honesty, the newbie probably doesn’t have the patience to listen to all of the details. They aren’t asking “how much should I dilute the thiourea in order to reduce the risk of damaging flow lines using a 2 second immersion and neutralization with deionized water” Since there are so many ways to for a new collector to screw up a coin by cleaning it, the best answer to a general question is Don’t clean it. If the questions become more specific, then a more detailed explanation is warranted.

If you think replies aren't helpful, you can always jump in and help teach the newbie the basic details.

 

WELCOME

 

It is generally considered to be safe and acceptable to do a rinse or soak with water (distilled preferably), Xylol or Xylene, acetone, methylethylketone, or isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) or high purity ethanol (190 proof). with air drying after the rinsing. No rubbing. Anything beyond this starts to run risks of damage

 

I'm sorry, but that's definitely glue. The light shining through it makes it appear to be metal, but I've seen this a thousand times.