Help Cleaning of Silver Coins OOPS

Okay everyone you're going to love this one. My parents both have a good number of various silver coins in their possesion. The other day my mother ( THE CLEANEST WOMAN AROUND KNOWN TO MANKIND ) decides to clean the coins. What does she use not soap and water but her all time cleaing favorite BLEACH. OH MY GOD ! The coins have pretty much turned Black in color. Is there anyway to bring these back from the dead ?

PLEASE HELP !

Thank you all.

 

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The best way to start this process would be to soak the coins in distilled water. Then add a tiny bit of baking soda. (A small pinch.) After this initial treatment, go to your local coin shop and get a quality cleaner like MS-70 brightner. Stay away from jewelry cleaners. The coins will forever have a harsh cleaning, but if the lesson is learned.......

 

Here is a little sample of 2 coins. One cleaned in Lemon Juice and the other still stained badly. These are just a samplng of the coins.

 

The coins that I've been testing it on were coins that I do not really care about. As far as the remedy (LEMON JUICE ) someone else from another forum recomended to try. I'm going to a coin shop tomorrow and see what they might have.

 

A few good cleaners that will be found in most shops.

1. E Zest Coin cleaner.
2. MS-70 Brightner

These are the best for light cleaning. Be sure to read the directions.
As with any cleaner, your coins WILL lose value. There is not a cleaner that will fool a grader. They all harm the luster to some degree. Most will give the coin a dull appearance. Some will change the copper in coins to a orange tone. Never rub the coin with any material. If you use a dip. Just dip and rinse. Rubbing will leave telltale marks throughout the fields of the coin. If for some reason you must clean, it should be because the residue such as PVC is damaging the coin. Toning is a natural occurrence and is appreciated these days. If the coin is a key date, or a condition rarity, consider conservation through NCS.

 

Once a coin is cleaned, most reputable grading companies will not touch it. And if the do, the mark the slab as such. Bad news. And keep in mind, it would not be right to ever attempt to sell these coins without informing the buyer beforehand of the mishap.

 

Funny thing... the Google ad at the bottom of the page was for Maas metal polish when I looked at this thread. Talk about coincidence...

 

And dipping can be worse than anything... as anyone who has participated in the coinpeople Ugly Coin Competition will know only too well.

 

How in the world could anyone tell a cleaned coin if is was 1. dipped 10 or so years ago maybe more? That is amazing. I've passed on cleaned coins at shows (it was too bright and under 10X showed polish lines) -but dipped?...and subsequently toned?

How?

 

why?

what is the big issue with dipped coins? ...and how do I know if I have any? aaahahhh

 

Look no further...

http://www.coinpeople.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3044&start=0

 

Aw, don't worry about it. Some of the kind of snobby collectors think that just because a coin has been Tarnexed that it's way uglier than one that toned black as tar with brown highlights. Heck, they ought to see some of the whizzed coins I've had foisted off on me at ebay.

Those same folks look down their noses at the real creampuff Peace dollars I have which would have a net grade of MS63 if you'd overlook the hammer marks and the insignificant drilled holes where a string was threaded through to hang the coin down in a pitcher of milk at a picnic.

Some of them get all upset if they see you a drop a silver dollar on the concrete floor at the flea market then put it back in the flip and mark it BU. Heck, BU can also mean Beat Up, can't it?

I think they're putting on airs. They probably think nobody suspects that their bottle of Tarnex isn't just for their jewelry.......ahaha Sometimes I crack my own self up.

Dip your coins in distilled water if you must dip'em and nobody will ever know you dipped them. ;-)

 

hmmmm. A few interesting statements here. First, what or why do folks dip silver dollars in milk? ....and second, how can distilled water clean a coin?

 

I see

 

In the old days, people would hang a sliver dollar in a pitcher of milk when it was going to be out unrefrigerated for a few hours such as at a family cookout or picnic. Silver kills germs and will keep a pitcher of milk from going sour for several hours. It's why silver was used for tableware, too. One side benefit of silver coins is that they won't spread germs. You can still buy sterling silver baby rattles which are the safest things for babies to have when they're still trying everything in their mouths or when they're teething because germs can't live on silver.

Distilled water doesn't clean coins at all unless they have something water soluble on them like sugar. That was a joke. You shouldn't dip coins at all unless you need to get PVC residue off. Dipping ruins a coin's toning, which is the patina that comes from exposure to different materials used for storing coins as well as from exposure to naturally occurring gases in the air. Therefore, dipping coins in distilled water won't hurt the coin's toning but almost everything else you could dip them in will ruin the toning or mint luster. Acetone will remove PVC scuzz without affecting the coin's mint luster or toning.

 

no kidding? THat is amazing. I will have to research the silver vs germs thing -I've heard bits of this before but not sure if silver wards off bacteria, viruses or both.

But as for dipping, how the heck can a person tell if he is looking at a "dipped" coin -bright or toned? I use a 5X for regular viewing, a 10X if I find a 65 to the eye.

fasinating.

 

Silver kills all germs, viruses included. While I'm no expert grader and don't even own any magnifiers stronger than 10x, the color of a coin usually gives it away. Circulation coins stored in rolls can be bright with full mint luster after being stored in rolls or bags under the right conditions for many decades, but most have shades of tarnish of various colors, most commonly shades of gray.


When I see a Peace dollar which is perfectly bright, but it has little mint luster overall, I suspect that the coin was dipped. There are many natural shades of color that silver coins can have and still be original. It takes seeing a lot of them to start to get a feel for what's natural and what's likely to be artificial in coin color.

In old commemoratives, one that's very white with mint luster visible will show the telltale signs of deep toning removed by dipping under 5x. There will be breaks in the luster everywhere the deep toning was removed by the dipping process. That's one indicator. I have a Stone Mountain half I bought which was dipped. I found it in an antique shop and didn't notice the breaks in the toning. Once I put it in the tray with two other examples of the same coin, the shade looked improbably bright. I can see the areas where the luster is gone and the surface is gray rather than bright silver. That's where the coin was deeply toned before it was dipped.

I didn't see any of that when I bought the coin. It was kind of dark in the shop and what I mainly saw was the unworn detail of the strike and the low price of $20. I'll sell it for sure, but it will be described as a cleaned coin and won't bring the price it would if it weren't dipped.

 

interesting. I have not really paid much attention to this. I am typically wary of bright coins -but seem to be collecting quite a few slightly toned or dirty Peace dollars lately. Could be because they show the detail so much more so than a blazer. But even then, a coin could have been dipped 10 years ago and retoned itself. Which brings me to another issue -toning. I'm aware that the rainbow tones bring the big bucks. But I've seen (and purchased) quite a few coperish to golden toned peace dollars never really considering if these had been dipped or toned by some trickery. COurse, I'm not an investor -i simply try to collect the best coin I can not afford. (yep, not afford -like MS dollars)