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 Replies: 27 / Views: 3,343 |
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
See, I'm not the only one :o
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
Hey hey! Dirt on a car is nature's way of protection, must like the antique dust I have in my home.
How DARE I take Pledge and a cloth to remove it?
Grime, dirt, dust, toning and what not are protecting the coin.
We protect these coins, grime, etc., and I, for one, do so with pride.
YES, Nevalite, cleaning removes something from the coin.
Metal and honest changes to the metal that only many years can provide.
Once gone, they are gone forever. With that, so is the value that we old-time collectors put on a given coin
which has never been cleaned.
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Valued Member
United States
158 Posts |
The only coin I have ever cleaned was a 1942 wheat that I found metal detecting. I cleaned it with lemon juice and water, and it went from being crusty to being shiny, but discolored in 2 spots. Still, I love that coin because I found it, so it has a place in my wheatie Whitman folder.
Darn, now I feel terrible about cleaning it :(.
HH
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
sometimes when the coin is a dug coin like your wheatie the only way to even tell what kind of coin you have is to clean it. That being said allot of people say it should only be cleaned enough to identify it and shouldn't be taken to the extremes.
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Valued Member
 71 Posts |
Thank you for all the replies, very informative. I never had the intention to clean any of my coins I was just curious about the topic.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3283 Posts |
Actually a very good question and I'm glad you asked.
To often people just follow the norm or what is popular, I welcome critical thinking.
Basebal21 makes a good point, it wasn't always the mood among collectors.
I think Carl nailed it best, in that cleaning destroy's originality and as most stated
cleaned coins look poorly.
Methods of cleaning which leave a coin looking original are not frowned upon, and are called conservation.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8517 Posts |
I've seen a couple YouTube videos where a guy puts his coins in a rock tumbler.
Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
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Rest in Peace
Canada
1360 Posts |
What about an ultra sonic cleaner - like for Jewellery? The chemicals if you use them (distilled water works too)are very mild. The vibes from the ultrasonic do most of the work, and will only affect the years of accumulated debris filling the various grooves etc. I haven't tried it yet, but I will give'r a go tonight with some 'worthless' coins.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
What about an ultra sonic cleaner - like for Jewellery? The chemicals if you use them (distilled water works too)are very mild. The vibes from the ultrasonic do most of the work, and will only affect the years of accumulated debris filling the various grooves etc. I haven't tried it yet, but I will give'r a go tonight with some 'worthless' coins.
Yet remember that removing something on a coin may well be part of the original metal of the coin itself. And a massive problem with items like those sonic cleaners is what people put in them. Soap? What type? How strong? What is in that soap? Vibrations from the sonic cleaner too could well make a coin continue to bump the sides and create scrates and dinks. Putting more than one coin in at a time too could cause problems. All sorts of things can go wrong with attemts to clean a coin. And again, once the past has been lost, it can not be recovered. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3486 Posts |
Oh NO, Roscue2!
Cleaning a common 1942 wheat found detecting is VERY different from cleaning a coin which has numismatic value.
If silver, it remains silver, but the numismatic value is destroyed.
Do not feel badly. For you, its value lies in the fact that you found it.
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Valued Member
United States
158 Posts |
Thank you Matthew. :) At the time I was 13 so I didn't have an idea about how to clean it other than using a form of acid, and seeing as there was an abundance of lemons nearby.... But like you said, it is a nice find in my mind cleaned or not.
52Raymo, rock tumblers are generally only used to clean common clad that has been found metal detecting. Sometimes people will put wheaties in also, but the tumblers do cause noticeable damage to the coins you put in. Of course, with clad it doesn't matter, but if you were to put in a silver coin it would destroy quite a bit if not all of its numismatic value
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Pillar of the Community
Philippines
1156 Posts |
Cleaning removes the "history" of the coin, leaves one only with a piece of metal, built up patina over the long years will be gone
I have an ultrasonic cleaner but use it only on silver jewelry & cuttlery which is great if one really wants cleaned up silver
but for coins its not good, takes out the luster, the patina remains but the luster is gone, left is a flat shine that is mostly surface & not deep
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2885 Posts |
Different rules apply for ancient coins. Just about every ancient coin you will see has been cleaned at some time. This is perfectly acceptable to collectors of ancients as long as it is done properly.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
This is perfectly acceptable to collectors of ancients as long as it is done properly.
Unfotunately it's that done properly thing that creates all sorts of errors. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
844 Posts |
I bought a cleaned coin today. It was also the best looking coin in the lot, with the most detail. Didn't pay a whole lot for it either. It wasn't harshly cleaned. I'm happy with the purchase. For what I was planning on spending on the one coin, I was able to buy a bonus.
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Replies: 27 / Views: 3,343 |
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First Page
Posted 10/27/2012 8:05 pm
