Coin Community Family of Web Sites Join Thousands of Coin, Bullion, & Money Collectors
300,000 items to help build your collection! Vancouvers #1 Coin and Paper Money Dealer Royal Estate Auctions - $1 Coin AuctionsRoyal Canadian Mint products, Canadian, Polish, American, and world coins and banknotes. Specializing in Modern Numismatics Join Thousands of Coin, Bullion, & Money Collectors Coin, Banknote and Medal Collectors's Online Mall








Username:
Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?


This page may contain links that result in small commissions to keep this free site up and running.

Welcome Guest! Registering and/or logging in will remove the anchor (bottom) ads. It's Free!

Cleaning Up Some War Nickels

To participate in the forum you must log in or register.
First Page  Showing last 15 replies.
Author Previous TopicReplies: 29 / Views: 3,067Next Topic Page 2 of 2
Valued Member
United States
96 Posts
 Posted 04/10/2008  07:53 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add fasteddie to your friends list
amac44,

How long was the 'dip' in Ezst solution? and I've heard vinegar works great and does not damage but sometimes it can takes days to remove black or green from silver War Nickels in the vinegar.
Pillar of the Community
United States
2373 Posts
 Posted 04/10/2008  09:29 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add nlp coins to your friends list
I would dip it lightly since it has to please no one but myself. No polishing though.
New Member
United States
4 Posts
 Posted 04/10/2008  11:25 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jtang42 to your friends list
hello, I'm still fairly new to coin collecting and was wondering why dipping is better than polishing? is it because the coin could be scratch or something. thanks
Rest in Peace
United States
1501 Posts
 Posted 04/11/2008  3:13 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add COINAHOLIC to your friends list
I prefer coins that look like the have a history tied to them, so I didn't clean my War Nickels (silvers) but if the coins were black I would go the E-z-est route, I used it on a really badly tarnished and stained Peace dollar that you could barely make out the date, I wish that I had taken the time to do a before pic but here is the result;

Cleaning-Up-Some-War-Nickels
Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts
 Posted 04/11/2008  3:25 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add biokemist6 to your friends list
jtang42,

first of all,

Polishing a coin is NEVER a good thing no matter how much you may think it will "improve" a coin. Polishing is damaging as it creates fine scratches all over the surface of a coin and thoroughly removes the natural metal flow lines from the coin being struck. However, dipping is not completely benign either. It is kind of like playing with fire- if you do not know what you are doing, you will get burned. If you are experienced and well trained, the outcome will be much better. Over dipping an uncirculated coin will strip luster that can never be regained. A careful, dilute dipping can(in certain cases) improve the eye appeal of a coin by removing ugly toning/tarnish and uncover original luster. Dipping circulated coins is almost always a no-no since it produces an unnaturally white coin with obvious wear i.e. something that does not exist naturally. This applies only to silver and gold. Copper coins should never be dipped since copper is a much more chemically reactive metal.

In the case of the original poster, she finds the black toned War Nickels to be ugly. Since they are minted of a billon alloy(less than 50% precious metal) they tend to tarnish a very ugly dark color that does not occur with 90% silver coins. In this case, a mild dip is preferable to dark and ugly.
New Member
United States
4 Posts
 Posted 04/13/2008  6:46 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jtang42 to your friends list
thanks biokemist6. That's good to know now. I had one that was completely black and polished it with a q-tip and silver polish. The coin is worn, so I thought it would be fun to try.
Pillar of the Community
United States
543 Posts
 Posted 04/13/2008  7:00 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add jeremymh to your friends list
Though thats simply the opinion of a majorityf collectors, though I also disagree with clean/dipping coins or any of that crap in an attempt to increase value.
Pillar of the Community
United States
595 Posts
 Posted 04/14/2008  12:04 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add janknez to your friends list
Of course, Jeremy, but if you remember my original post, I said that the point was I'm going to keep the nickels for the rest of my life just because I like to own them. If my great-nephew's grandchildren decide I've devalued their inheritance by dipping some ugly black War Nickels, they'll just have to get over themselves.

Jan
Valued Member
United States
96 Posts
 Posted 04/14/2008  12:09 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add fasteddie to your friends list
You can will them to me Jan!, I would be very appreciative.
Edited by fasteddie
04/14/2008 12:12 pm
Valued Member
United States
144 Posts
 Posted 04/14/2008  1:49 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add greyhav to your friends list
I'd like a good example of each, side by side (one natural black, one closer to how it was originally, but cheap).
Valued Member
United States
392 Posts
 Posted 04/14/2008  11:34 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add kceb10 to your friends list
I would dip it
Pillar of the Community
United States
595 Posts
 Posted 04/15/2008  07:55 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add janknez to your friends list
I've decided I will definitely do some before and after photos of this process -- and we'll see what we all think about it.

Jan
Pillar of the Community
United States
4870 Posts
 Posted 04/15/2008  08:09 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add TheForce to your friends list
If I have a black War Nickel I won't clean them. I'll just get another. They are relatively cheap for circulated grades.
Pillar of the Community
United States
1116 Posts
 Posted 04/15/2008  11:13 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add scott3270 to your friends list
i chose nicer and readable because it will not be of much value if it was valuable I would never clean it
Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts
 Posted 04/16/2008  10:27 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add just carl to your friends list
I don't like Jefferson nickels at all so I picked Dimes
Page 2 of 2   Previous TopicReplies: 29 / Views: 3,067Next Topic Page 2 of 2
First Page  Showing last 15 replies.
To participate in the forum you must log in or register.


    




Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Coin Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Family- all rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Coin Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited.
Contact Us  |  Advertise Here  |  Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

Coin Community Forum © 2005 - 2026 Coin Community Forums
It took 0.32 seconds to rattle this change. Forums