To Clean or Not to, hey look!! A squirrel!!

I'm quite sure there was more than just 1. Arlo would be proud!

 

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If you need help cleaning that squirrel, I can help with that.

 

From littering?

 

I had a stroke and simple reading can sometimes be a serious and painstakingly slow ordeal. Videos are even worse. However, I have found coins and collecting to be absolutely fascinating so at least I've been able to keep up with reading and posting in the forums better than anything I've found in a very long time. Not wanting to be hyperbolic but you guys are giving me a gift by patiently helping and even my wife has mentioned a noticeable improvement. That means you're helping my family too, and only God comes before my family. Can't say thank you enough.

 

I thought I might take the squirrel and put it under the garbage.

 

I've found that a "bath" in distilled water, with agitation, will remove most dirt and other particles from silver coins. Then, after air drying, I use a jewelry polishing cloth (silver). Works wonders and leaves no abrasions. Just my humble opinion.

 

Polishing cloths will destroy the value of your coins. Polishing your coins is never a good idea.

 

That's one of the worse things you can do to a coin.

 

My prayers go with you and your family. Take your time, do and learn what you can but most of all, enjoy what you do.

 

this coin had thick green PVC slime and it was etching the surfaces. You bet I used acetone and distilled water rinses until the coin was "clean" Careful cleaning has a place to conserve a coin.

 

this coin almost at the end of removing the pvc

 

Why do you say "bath" and not bath, and how are you agitating it? And I believe a jewelry polishing cloth contains abrasive material, like diamond dust. I would avoid using it anyway.

 

More room here on the Group W bench with your buds

 

Please don't.

If you're agitating a coin in distilled water (or anything else), you're rubbing it against the container. Rubbing a coin is bad.

If you're rubbing a coin with a jewelry polishing cloth (rubbing a coin is bad), you are POLISHING it. Yes, it'll come out looking super-shiny. But it will also be ruined for experienced collectors, and a big disappointment for inexperienced collectors who learn more after they've bought it.

 

NO.

Rubbing a coin is bad. If you brush it super-lightly with a delicate brush, you probably won't see any abrasions with your naked eye, but that's no guarantee that you aren't creating them. You're also dragging dirt across the face of the coin, which is even more likely to leave abrasions.

As @Kentucky and @Collecting Nut said, nail polish remover often isn't pure acetone. It rarely specifies what the additives are, and lots of additives can cause discoloration or even corrosion on coins. It's much wiser (and much cheaper) to get pure acetone.

I respect your experience with metal cleaning, but there are different rules, constraints and goals when you're cleaning contacts as opposed to coin surfaces. Be cautious when generalizing from one to the other.

 

Very well said!

 

...but we had fun on the bench, talking about...

 

Here is one from my type set. Its in an old ANACS I sent in myself 20ish years ago. Its got some slow growing funk one of these days it will get an acetone bath but I hate cracking those slabs.

 

... all kinds of groovy coins that we was talking about on the bench ...

 

...and the biggest meanest one of them all came up to me and said "Yeah, kid, what kind of coins did you find" and I said "Quarters" and they all moved away from me until I said "And I found 3 W's" and they all moved back and we had a fun time..."