help for a newb. cleaning circulated coins

hi im new to the forum as well as to coins. ive read the faq on cleaning and understand that cleaning is bad. my question is this, everyone says cleaning is bad but is that for all coins or just the unc's and proofs, or others that still have their original luster. right now im collecting mercs,liberty quarters and liberty halves most to all are circulated.so how bad can cleaning be to a coin that donsnt have any luster left.
also as im sure most of us feel, im collecting as a fun hobby aswell as hopfuly a way to save/make munny for down the road. is it better to lets say buy a bunch of vg-xf coins of just a few bu+ coins.
and im sorry for having so many topics on one thread and mybe i should start another thread but will modern coins ever gain as much value as older coins over the same amount of time?
well thanks for any input. Dave

 

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Techincally, all cleaning is "bad," but if you're planning on cleaning up a grimy old 1958-D cent that's only worth 1.5 cents to begin with, I don't see any harm in it. Cleaning is generally bad not because of the luster issue, but because it leaves scratches all over the surface of the coin. Most collectors don't like to see a scratched up coin in their collections.

I guess the rule of thumb would have to be don't clean anything that might have resale value or that you might want to sell later. If you plan on keeping it until the day you die and then having it buried with you, go ahead and do whatever you like to it!

~AJ

 

Here's a test for you so that you can see it for yourself: take a Lincoln memorial penny made prior to 1982, go and use some soap and water on it and then dry it with a paper towel. Take that, and go look at it under a bright light with a loupe, and you'll see little scratches all over it. That's the bad part.

 

Cleaning just doesn't hurt the luster...it hurts the coin #1--

Speedy

 

If one of your goals is to make some money, don't clean the coins because it will reduce their value. If you clean it once, you might live to regret it many times.

All things being equal, it is probably better to have a few uncirculated coins than to have many circulated coins.

I don't think most modern coins will ever have as much value as the older coins. Too many of them are now being saved by intelligent collectors for them to become as scarce. A few coins will no doubt become valuable someday , but I'm not smart enough to know which ones they will be in advance.

 

ok i have 3 rolls of roose dimes. my moms had them in her closet for many years. i pulled them out to see what there is and alot of them are green(green powder). they were stored in a small plastic container thats probably 20 years old with buffalo nickels and some wheat cents. i always thought that silver would oxodize white so im guessing its copper. do you think that this is from the plastic or the pennys? is ther a safe way to remove it. i read that one guy uses olive oil but who knows. thanks again for any help you can offer.

 

You are going to need to use a reducing agent to remove the green stuff. Make sure you have nothing valuable before you do this though.

 

Olive oil will help take some of the green stuff off, but I would not do it just leave them just as they are. As far as what to collect, that is up to you. Collect coins that you like. Unc coin have the best potenital to increase in value, but that is not always the case. As for collecting modern or older coins that can be answered by what you can afford. An example is the 1999 and 2001 Mint Proof Set that selled for $23.50 from the mint and now you can't buy them for less then $100.00 and the Silver Sets go for a lot more. So as far as what to collect, collect what you like and hope for the best.

 

Thats an individuals opinion

I collect on essentialy a poormans budget. I would rather have an equal mix of quantity/quality over strictly quality. IMHO its better for me to have a dozen coins i can look at, then 3 uncirculated coins. If i have $100 to spend, i would not buy 1 coin for the whole $100, i would look at coins i have been wanting and (not buy junk) look at the quality i could get while getting the most coins. I wouldnt buy 10 junkers but maybe 3 or four 'middle of the road' coins

Now if i had $500 a month to spend ... well thats whole different ballgame

 

But remember...quality is always better than quantity...you may not see it now but it is....if you can buy 1 NICE coin with the $100 you have...do it...it will pay off in the long run.

Speedy

 

It would only pay of if the coin was ever sold.

 

Right and wrong...think of how much more enjoyment you would get from seeing the nice BU or even low grade Key date coins....also when you pass on the collection it would be nicer the the person getting it to have the better coins already there...

But you are also right....but wouldn't you like to get more than just what you paid when you sell your coins if you ever do....the lower grades common coins aren't going to shoot up in value one day...if they were going to they would have already done it IMO...its not normal to have a coin go up after many years of it being "junk"...so if you pay $3.00 for a coin ....don't think to get any more....maybe less...but if you take that $100 and buy a 1909-S cent in VG or such....you can almost bet that since that is a key you will be able to get back more than you put in it.

Remember...no one can tell you what to collect....we can suggest but never can we tell you!

Speedy

 

I certainly agree with your assessment on the values of coins.... But im not in the hobby for the profits I am in it for the joy, the excitement of the hunt, and the occaisional good find i could find either in my change or in the 'hunt'. If i was in the hobby purely for the profits, then yes, i would only want to buy high level coins for the higher premiums that would come when sold a few years later, or the profits realized when the coin was once again looked at down the road. I do hope my coins will appreciate, but i do fully understand that the lower quality coins will acrue lesser premiums (if any) then the key dates, or the higher end commons. I like looking at my coins and seeing what do i need to finish this set, or what do i need for this series.... its satisfieing in its own right to complete a series or a set of any quality level!!

its all one mans perspective .

 

thanks for all the help guys. so ive been looking at silver eagles(american eagles)now in your opnion if i had $90 and can get uncirculaed for 10 a peice and proof for 30 would it be better to get 3 proof or 9 unc?

oh and just a little funny side note. i went to the flea market with my girlfriend last weekend looking for deals and wow it felt like i walked into the land of the over priced.i found alot of coins there that i already had so i was just looking for what this booth was selling them for and it was 3x the price of the red book value on most all the coins.which is kinda funny because i didnt see any missing 2x2's or slabs in the shelfs as if no one had bought anything from them in a while.oh well

 

I collect both Proofs and the Unc's ASE's so i would get both kinds. With any collector its up to you on what to buy -- like Speedy says ...

Remember...no one can tell you what to collect....we can suggest but never can we tell you!

 

I'm not in it for $$ either but I sure don't go out to spend on coins that aren't going to be good for me if I ever have to sell....I think as you collect you will start to agree with me...but it took me a few years...

Speedy

 

I think i have been collecting longer then you have been alive But i know for sure that i havent been as deep in the hobby as you are. The depth of your knowledge alone about coins far surpasses my own. I think at this point we can agree to disagree on what and how to collect

 

More than likely yes....I'm 16....I'm happy that on this forum we can agree to disagree....I hope you didn't take my post as me being rude....I was just posting myself---and from past learning with collecting most of them start like I did and then years later see the same thing I did that their collecting isn't going like it would have if I had spent my money better....so I try to help some to see it before I did...and that was 4 years....

Far from true I'm sure....if it hadn't been for this forum and many of its members I wouldn't know what I know today.

Speedy

 

all is good my friend... all is good

 

Daggerjon, you just go right ahead and buy the coins that make you happy whether thay be high or low grade. To me enjoying the hobby is the important thing. And for me I rally don't think I could do that if all I had were a few high grade coins with no real relationship between them.

Speedy says that eventually you will come around to his viewpoint. That might be true, but so far I haven't after 35 years of collecting