Revisiting The Many Discussions About Cleaning....

I appreciate the input so far. I have a few follow-up comments to those.

1) Why would I EVER want to try to clean a Morgan dollar in such a condition? I (and note, this is me only...not speaking for nor speaking against anyone else) will never be obsessed with this hobby so that I feel I have to do something to improve a high grade coin to a higher grade coin by artificial means. I doubt I would ever have more than a handful of coins that could make a substantial financial improvement by attempting such, and the risk of value going the other way would be too great.

2) I think that Mox may have hit on it, for me. If the cleaning of whatever type causes some of the "micro-scintillation" to flake off, we have a problem. This effect is NOT scratching. It is flaking. It is not a matter of hardness. It is a matter of fragility. And I suppose that to the eye, this could be perceived as scratching.

3) As an everyday collector, I am more concerned with being a completist than I am a perfectionist of condition. Don't get me wrong. I keep trying to have an eye out for coins in every roll that will raise the grade of a slot in my collection. But I am MORE excited about finding a repunch or double die than I am in finding an MS65 in a roll.

4) JF's sentiment also resonates with me. Implied is the idea that most of us, at times, are ultra OCD about collecting. We can lose the joy of the hobby if we get too obsessed with the idea of perfection. If I can take a coin that few will want and clean it to look attractive, and it fills a spot, it's a good thing. And if cleaning makes it look unnatural, I would probably get rid of it as soon as I found an attractive replacement. I am not worried about reduction of value when we are talking about MOST coins, since most coins I currently collect do not have a huge inherent value. But like a Tiffany lamp vs one from the Dollar Store, I will be MUCH more careful in every way with the Tiffany.

And it depends on the Brillo pad :) I've seen some grungy Brillo pads

If the coin is only for your own pleasure, do whatever you want that enhances your enjoyment of the coin. Scrub it with a brillo pad, dip it in chemicals, roast it in an oven. These are all perfect options.

If the coin is to be sold, it is best to not clean it.

Very simple.

She is beautiful!

To somebody.

The other thing to remember in terms of using soap, brushes, etc is the complexity that a real world situation brings to the event.

In an ideal world, a soft brush should logically not damage a hard metal coin much (though there will of course be some friction damage). But in the real world, one does not apply pure soap and pure water to a perfectly clean brush, and a perfectly clean coin. At the very least there is, presumably, dirt of some kind on the coin, that you are hoping to remove with the soap and brush.

What's in that "dirt"? Nobody knows. Are there fine grains of sand in the dirt? There probably is, if it's "environmental" dirt. If so, then scrubbing at it with a brush will be like scrubbing the coin with sandpaper.