Launder it? Start with "WHAT KIND?" would be my GUESS. Then WHAT KIND OF COIN. Then for WHAT PURPOSE? I'm betting that if we get these folks talking here we may get more than three answers, I bet. Worse yet, is we may have to chose amounst the best ones on our own or find someone that wants a coin with dirt ont it.:bigeyes:
No, soap will leave a residue on the coin, and (I'm not sure if this is true) could possibly destroy the face of the coin.
okay, i found these coins metal detecting and i wanted to get the dirt off of them so i can ask you guys what you think of them. the coins are 1964-D & 1950-D rosies and 1942-S Quarter
detergents are very bad it is not recommended to use any kind of soap. If the coin is valuable I would recommend doing a search on these boards for cleaning coins and in the end you may want to contact NCS if you decide to clean an expensive coin. If it is inexpensive there are other methods you can learn about that have been posted here.
After it has soaked for a bit try using a dull toothpick to see if the dirt can be gently moved away without scraping.
Yes thats why you should do it gently. Just soaking in water alone will not remove the dirt, it needs a little help. This is why I suggest sending it to be professionally restored if the coin is valuable. There are those here myself included where 90+% of the time would say don't even try cleaning the dirt, just leave it and if your not happy with it sell it and get an example without the dirt in an effort to preserve the original surfaces of the coin.
Any rubbing of the dirt on the coins surface will cause scratches...soak it until you can use a flow of the distilled water to remove the mud or dirt. Never rub it will damage the coin! SOAK Rinse pat dry
okay, i dont want to sell these because they arent valuable and becasue these are my 1st silvers iv found with my metal detector, and i want them to look clean lol. how long should i let it soak?
Yes. No matter how careful you are this will ruin the coins. Now, these coins are probably ruined anyway if you found them metal detecting, but it's a good idea to develop good habits in handling coins.
If after soaking in distilled water (DI) you're still not satisfied, you can put a pinch of water softener in warm DI to get some of the tougher gunk off. Be very careful, a little goes a long way. Leave for ten-twenty minutes to a couple of hours, depending on how badly encrusted the coins are. Be sure to rinse several time with DI because you just put your coin into a salt solution. Try this on some junk coins to get a feel for it. Though I doubt that you can do much damage to coins that have been buried as long as yours were. Let us know how they turn out!
The coins aren't of much value. I wouldn't lose too much sleep if you cause a small scratch on a coin with a toothpick that has been sitting underground for a few decades. I don't think that they were proof coins that someone buried for the fun of it. They probably fell out of someone's pocket and had the normal wear of circulation coins (i.e. scratches). I agree with the distilled water idea and wouldn't hestitate to use a toothpick on them.
