I like Cleaned Coins and you should to thread

What happened to Mr. Brooklyn?

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

FWIW - this is her book
http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Sterl...2380744?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1384828829&sr=1-1

 

Is there a thread called "I don't like cleaned coins and neither should you" around here?

 

I believe she is wrong as far as coins go. Why destroy the value?

 

Read chapter 19

 

Well of course, everyone knows bright shinny objects are more valuable than dull tarnished, "been to hell and back", silver objects, especially coins. Or so the accepted thinking went up until 100 years ago. Really, it's a miracle there are any original coins around from before 1900 given what was considered acceptable practice prior to that.

 

Sad story. Didn't see eye to eye with the powers that be on this forum so he shuffled off......

 

I like Clean coins, clean teeth and finally a clean bill of health.
It's all in the way you look at things. Cleaning coins and securing them in the correct way will hold value.

Many times I disagree with the professionals when a coin is so over toned with a high grade inside plastic. I ask what is really underneath the crud. So, again cleaning coins is an art and I like them shiny and natural as possible. George

 

One can argue this is a contradiction. Metal oxidizes. It's a fact of life. So if you like them shiny, and that's perfectly fine with me, they are most likely not natural. Once you clean a coin, you begin to remove parts of the original surfaces.

 

My routine every time I get a new coin is to clean it as gently as possible but to remove any tarnish. I want the coin to look as close to original as possible (when it was minted and in circulation) After cleaning, I put it in an airtight so that it will remain that way.

I can't imagine going to an antique car show where all of the cars were covered in rust and people saying "They look more original this way." Yet the car did not look that way when it was new or in use.

 

Hi I have and still do clean a few of my Silver coins,dimes,war nickels,quarters,half dollars and some silver dollars. I have tried all the before mentioned products and have found that Windex w/ammonia does a good job. It doesn't leave your coins slick and shiny. I leave the coins in the Windex for about 3-5 minutes, take them out and rinse them with hot water then put them on an absorbent cloth and cover then with another one and press down until all the moisture is gone. They look really good and do not have that shiny slick look to them and does not bother the toning. I don't use it on my super valuable coins but on coins that will sell for between $40-100. It's just not worth grading a coin of that value. I have actually gotten some Morgans past the TPGs using this method.

 

Last summer I was in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, and passing through the American Wing I was looking out for coins. Finally I came across a glass case full of Colonial silver, mostly tableware but in one corner there were a few pine tree shillings and sixpence. Like everything else in the case, the coins appeared to have been shined up to almost a mirror-like finish.

I meant to ask here at the time whether museums have a different take on coin preservation than collectors do; I guess the answer is yes. Is there some kind of intellectual defense for it, or are they just giving patrons what they want to see?

 

I wanted to add a little more to the conversation on "cleaning" coins. I knew I had the a book that addressed the subject. I know most everyone knows and respects Mr. Q.David Bowers,he is,in my opinion,one of the most knowledgable experts on coins from the time they are minted their end.in his book "The Experts Giuide to Collecting & Investing in Rare Coins ,page 614-618 he talks about cleaning coins. He says " Cleaned is a bad word,Wash your mouth out with soap". "Conserving is a Good word and I like it". Then he goes through how to use all the various ways to use the chemicals and other substances talked about here. I am Shocked!! He actually uses them and endorses their careful use.

 

There are ways to clean or "conserve" a coin that are considered good and non-damaging to the coin. The problem is, it is very difficult to do it properly so you must know what you are doing. That bis the trick...because when done wrong they will ruin the coin.

 

Yeah I know and that is why he goes on to say "start with coins of little value over face". I was just being a little sarcastic I suppose and that's something I should never do but after all these years of being told to never ever clean a coin,for someone of his reputation to actually come out in favor of something I have been doing for years,I thought it was great. A lot of people have been doing this for years so companies like NCS and ANACS has their own Conservation service, said hey we are losing a lot of money,we need to start offering this service for a price but we can't call it "cleaning" oh I no we will call it "Conservation" an that's what they have done and now make millions of $ doing what a lot of people were already doing! Like I said before I have actually gotten some coins by the TPGs!

 

While I do realize this, I believe that a human being's visual perception threshold is such that we cannot tell the difference between a brand new coin from the mint, or one that has been sitting in a sealed container for a year or two. If we would use titanium for our coins, then they might not ever tone.

Now, I was not aware of this. I thought toning was a result of the metal reacting with the moisture in the air. If there is no air, then there should be no toning. I realize there is a minute amount of air inside the airtite, but once that air has reacted, it should be rendered neutral. Perhaps if the coins were in a vacuum chamber before being placed into the airtite, maybe that would help?

Still, 99% of my collection is silver bullion. I rarely collect anything for numismatic value. So I prefer it to look nice and shiny.

I currently use coinsafe tubes for less valuable stuff like junk silver. But for ASEs, Panda, Maples, and pretty much anything worth more than $20 I will put it in an airtite. That way I feel safer handling the coins without the need to wear a cotton glove to keep my skin oils off of the coin. However, air-tites do make the coin a lot larger. I have often wondered if there were some sort of product you could use to give a silver coin some sort of clear-coat that would give it a tiny layer that would keep it from toning and allow you to handle it.