coins damaged by Katrina My entire coin collection was submerged for about 2 weeks after Katrina hit. I have salvaged them but they are very stained and rusty and tarnished. We tried warm soapy water. They are still in bad shape/. Any other suggestions?
That sounds pretty bad Unless you have gold or other precious metals besides silver, the rest might be quite difficult especially iron or copper related alloys. I honestly doubt if acetone is of any help... I am seriously hoping that you don't have anything very valuable in your coin collection... My consolations
Sooooo sorry to hear that. With the Katrina disaster and all of the potential contaminates within the water including petro chemicals it may be a case for insurance claim if you had them covered as nusmismatic collectables. The value of the general bullion will remain at current market melt value. I know this is not something you want to hear ...but very well may be the reality of such exposure. I hope the best for you! Remember.. not to try to clean the coins! Best of Luck!! RickieB
Wow.... that really sucks! But I guess it's a silver lining that the whole collection wasn't swept/blown away during the hurricane and storm surge. I know that doesn't exactly help much, but like RickieB said, try not to clean the coins, as that'll hurt them even further than just the water and possible chemical contamination have already! Best of luck and wishes to you and yours down there! ~AJ
to CoinTalk. I'm sure you have the sympathy of everyone here. I would suggest a quick bath in pure acetone (from the paint, hardware or home center store, not additive-loaded nail polish remover) to get rid of the contaminants they probably picked up while submerged. Follow up with a rinse in deionized water, and then air dry on a soft cloth. Change the acetone and water frequently.
I'm sorry to hear about your collection and you have my sympathies. I think instead of cleaning them and risking that the coins couldn't be fully restored anyway, why not donate it to a museum of some sort as a testament to the disaster that went on. Now i'm sure the coins carry a historic value even though its numismatic value has been destroyed. Think of them like coins retrieved from a shipwreck, buried beneath the waves after centuries.
kandjj my deepest sympathy to yourself and all that went through it, I cant realy add anything to the above suggestions mate but do wish you the best for the future and all the luck in the world. De Orc
Well my coin are all dull to so I just put them in ketchup and scrubed them in ketchup and when I washed them off they were really clean. you should try it.
Not if you want your coins to retain their value. coke, I sincerely hope that you are joking. If not, I hope you don't have any coins worth more than a few cents each, because your scrubbing with an acidic substance has irretreivably injured their value.
What you mean that using Ketchup, Metel Polish and scouring pads is a NO NO !! how else can we get them dirty old coins looking all nice new n sparklin LOL (Sorry guy's just coud not resist it ) De Orc
kandjj I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune. I may be able to help and will make the following offer to introduce myself and company to you... Go to my website for a Submission Kit and send me five of your Mint State coins that look bad now. I will process them at No Charge except for return shipping. BJG
sorry Sorry pal but theres nothing u could do that wouldnt make them look cleaned which always drops the price never wash coins. Now u could try to sell them as coins in the hurricane katrina. People might think there interesting.
Everyone has an opinion about processing coins to remove unwanted toning, spots, haze, etc. It is not a bad thing to beautify coins, as long as it is done by a professional. As long as the process does not remove any of the original surface of the coin, the metal flow which creates the Cartwheel affect on coins, will not be harmed. The result is Brilliant Cartwheel Luster! As long as the process does not abrade the surface of the coin there will be no hairlines visible, even under magnification. Anyone who wants to LEARN more about this should read the following. Be sure to click on the "HERE" in the next to the last paragraph... http://www.ncscoin.com/news/viewarticle.asp?IDArticle=105 I am sure that ICG, ICTA, NGC, PCGS and PNG would not endorse processing coins if it was not a good thing to do.
