okay, i am looking at a bunch of stupid bullion silver coins and wondering if there is an amateur way to clean them. i know silver goes bad with exposure to oxygen, im going to take a rusted over penny and put it is some "lime be gone" rust remover and see the results in 9 hours. im thinking that will seriously destroy the coin in some way, And JUSt For the Record, the penny is not a key date and of no significance/importance to me
Well most will tell you not to clean the coins but if these are Engelhard rounds or something that you want to have shiney again I would recomend some acetone... if its a lot of toning you might want to leave it in there for a few hours. Remember with acetone, its bad for you skin so wear gloves, cover whatever you put the coin in because it evaporates, and use a glass container because acetone eats some plastics and rubbers.
i should be getting a bullion bar in the mail soon, but i dont have enough coins to be able to sell them, i was just wondering if there is any like simple bleach solution or mix that would unrust coins instantly. Toning works, but i dont have the time and the coins that i would be cleaning are close to worthless anyways . Thanks though I have to look on the brightside, my grandkids will get lots of money off of my coins if i decided they can sell them (including the coins i am going to start obtaining now that im back into collecting gold )
ok, to clear things up, i spend alot of time on coins and they are important to me but im more of the guy that will buy good coins instead of doing it myself (even though that may save me money)---if that makes any sense to anybody
I think you are missing the point here... cleaning coins is damaging the coins, thus reducing value. "good" coins aren't cleaned they are just preserved well by collectors. So honestly if the coin is "rusted" its pretty much tanked value wise. "toning" means any discoloration due to the interaction of metal and chemicals in the air or the container the coin is stored in. So if you want to sell these for any sort of a profit I would leave them uncleaned.
okay, great, thanks. messing with silver is a bad idea in the first place Oh, and that penny that i tried to clean came out horrible, chemical burns in various spots--this goes to show that you know what you are talking about, and i don't know what i am doing
Its actually a split subject, many dealers will tell you that dipping coins in acetone is fine and others will tell you that its sacralidge. I am interested in the numismatic characteristics of the coins I own so I think that the toning actually adds character to the coin for me. Then again I'm a sentimental fool, I'll sit there holding an old worn war nickle in my grandparents basement and wonder who's pockets it has been in.
yea, i was mostly just curious, i have heard from most people that it isn't a good idea, just wanted to make sure by asking you guys.. i guess it really just depends on your personal standards/likings....
Agreed you are missing the point more than the above makes implies. For instance if you just think about it any discoloration on any coin is normally a chemical reaction between the metal of the coin and some other, non part of the coin, substance. Therefore, removing any discoloration, marks, toning, spots are in reality removing metal from the coin. This is why cleaning of any types ruins coins. If you had realy Silverware at home, for instance, and everytime it discolored, you cleaned it with something like Tar-X, eventually there will be nothing left. I think we need a forum called don't clean coins or else
I vote to make this thread a sticky so that anyone having a question about it can read it and get answers. So how 'bout it forum mods?
But there's forty eleven more threads just like it - and one of those has a sticky on it. I think Been so dang many of 'em I can't remember. Of course we always just suggest that members use the search function - type in cleaning - and hit the enter key
tarn-x has thioria, a chemical known in the state of california to cause cancer. i left a penny in tarn-x for over 2 minutes and the face of lincoln was gone! im dead serious, that stuff is bad. ( i read the warning on the back that says don't leave metals in tarn-x for more than 2 minutes). i have concluded that i will not clean my coins unless totally neccesary.
I put a bunch of coins in a old coffee, Dimes ,quarters,nickles,pennies, half dollars. I had the coffee can filled with all these coins next to my bed . Some where in time I spilled Tea from Speedway in the coffee can. Emptyed the coffee can on the floor and started to sort the coins. A lot of the coins where stuck together like syrup was poured on them I looked under my Kitchen sink and found some Tarn-x. Some of the coins are still soaking in Tarn-x. I ran out of Tarn-x. Have to purchace some more of this product. How long should I keep these coins soaking in Tarn-X for.
Hello James... You have posted in a very old thread and often times these old threads don’t get much attention. I can’t speak to Tarn-x but I most imagine that it works like most silver tarnish removing products. And honestly, that’s not a solution that you want to keep coins in for any period of time. These products strip away some of the surface of the coin and they will discolor copper coins. You would do far better to let those coins soak in warm water. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.
