Best Way To Clean Clad Coins?...

carl I'm gonna try that Brillo trick!!

Brillo, I'm trying SOS.

garylcsr, I've always used acetone as the final rinse.What is the purpose of distilled water as the final ?

I see, I may start a new thread on this sunbject (If one doesn't exist) as there doesn't seem to be a consensus on this.Might never be, but I bet if you have some pics it could shed some light.Interesting..

Brillo pads are much finer material so the scratches are more evenly spaced on the coins. SOS pads are courser so they leaave more uneven markings on the coins.
Actually if you really want a coin to shine, use 100 grit sandpaper on a sanding belt machine.

A lot of people don't realize what a deplorable state the modern coins
and their markets are in. There are just too few collectors to absorb
all the coins so the coins are allowed to deteriorate in their original
packaging. It's not just the common garbage that's going bad but the gems
and more desirable coins as well. Even the few collectors of this mater-
ial often keep the coins original and the tarnish sneaks up on them.

The problem is quite extreme in som cases but no one seems to notice be-
cause people stopped their collections at 1964. The most dramatic is pro-
bably the 1968 cent. These are quite common in rolls but finding nice
choice coins in rolls is exceedingly difficult. They made a couple mil-
lion mint sets and the Philly cents in these tend very nice. Fully 5%
are gems and half are very choice. But 95% of these still in the original
packaging are tarnished and ugly now and can't be cleaned. The other 5%
are still attractive but all of them have carbon spots and these can't be
removed.

The same thing is gradully happening to lots of the mint set coins and if
they aren't caught early and stabilized in a solvent will also be irredeem-
able. Look at the '84-D cents. These were bad to start with and now half
of them are tarnished too. Most of the 40% halfs have problems. Gems can
be pretty elusive to start with and allowing most of them to disintegrate
will not help their availability. In tenty years it might not even be pos-
sible to assemble nice choice sets from the mint sets.

Casutherland, I guess by now you realize that most people avoid cleand and dipped coins. Like wheatguy said, there are times when conservation is necessary, but modern Kennedy's aren't one of them.

You have in all likelihood reduced your Kennedy's to face value. If for some reason you ever go to sell that set, you absolutely must disclose to people that these coins have been dipped, then I guarantee you, you won't sell them. You may be able to get some rookie to buy them that doesn't understand dipping, but I certainly wouldn't count it.

If that were my set, I would start over and collect BU Kennedys. They are not hard to find.

I sincerely hope that if you have any silver coins that HAD anything of value, that they didn't get dipped.

and when you wiped them off with the jewelry cloth you left hairline scratches that will be there for ever. never wipe. sometimes it is ok to set the coin on the towel or whatever you use but never wipe