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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 3185888, member: 112&quot;]There are probably more ways of harshly cleaning a coin than one would care to count. Definitely more than I would care to type ! Using steel wool is just 1 of them.</p><p><br /></p><p>And it needs to be pointed out that while destroying the luster on a coin is often a part of harsh cleaning, even coins that have no luster at all, and haven&#039;t had any luster for many years, are often harshly cleaned. </p><p><br /></p><p>As has been already explained by the others, when it comes to cleaning coins the primary difference is between - cleaning and harsh cleaning. Cleaning is fine, there is nothing wrong with it ! Harsh cleaning is bad, no matter what method is used. The reason for this is that cleaning does not harm the coin and harsh cleaning does harm the coin. Harsh cleaning can be mechanical or chemical in nature, or any combination of the two. And when I say chemical, that means a long list of substances. For example using ketchup or Coca-Cola or soap would be harsh cleaning - and yes those things have been used to harshly clean coins. And so has just about every other household substance you can think of.</p><p><br /></p><p>The flip side of the coin is there is a very short list of substances or chemicals that can be used to safely clean coins. They include distilled water, acetone, xylene, pure alcohol (or at least pure as you can get it - in other words rubbing alcohol aint it), and the various coin dips - and that&#039;s it, the end of the list. But each and very one of them has to be used correctly to avoid harming the coin. </p><p><br /></p><p>And to answer an implied question of yours Tyler, any coin, every coin, that is struck - no matter how old it is - has luster when it is struck. But that luster can be destroyed by many things, among them wear, harsh cleaning, toning, and environmental damage. Even touching the surface of a coin, with anything, will alter, damage, or destroy the luster to one degree or another.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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