Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="-jeffB, post: 8325584, member: 27832"]That's close, but not identical, to my definition. To me: "Conserving" is a positive, because it removes debris or contaminants that obscure a coin's true surface, and often protects the coin from further damage. "Improper cleaning" disturbs the coin's surface -- it removes or distorts metal. "Cleaning" can be conservation, or can be improper. A dip (to remove ugly toning) can count as conservation, even though part of what it's removing was originally coin metal. If you want to call that "damage", okay, but the "damage" happened during the toning process. I do NOT consider using VerdiCare to be improper cleaning. It removes a substance that hides the coin's surface, and potentially protects against further damage. It certainly doesn't undo the damage verdigris has already done, but it doesn't cause any further damage itself. VerdiCare also leaves something behind on the coin. I'm of two minds about this, but (a) that layer doesn't further attack the coin's surface, (b) it doesn't obscure the coin's surface, and (c) it's easy enough to remove later (as I understand it).[/QUOTE]