E-Z-Est Cleaner - Is It Meant For Clad Coins?

Thank you, All, for chiming in!

I realize that cleaning coins is a big taboo with many of you. I also realize that cleaning / dipping coins and expecting the Graders not to notice is fruitless. I wouldn't clean any coins that I would intend to send to Graders.

A coin shop owner told me that he used "Jewel Luster" on a silver Canadian coin for my collection. It turned out nice for my purposes. I searched for "Jewel Luster" and found only references towards E-Z-Est. Same thing?

That would help but it won't completely solve the problem. The problem with "rinsing bowls" is that the coin carries dip on it with dissolves into the first bowl, but when the coin is removed it still carries a diluted solution of dip on it. Even if you use a second bowl, when you remove the coin is STILL has a further diluted solution of dip on it. As the water evaporate the dip concentration left on the coin increases and will eventually cause damage. It would take longer with two rinse bowls than with one but it will still happen. You need to do a final FLOWING rinse where the water is poured over the coins and flushes the diluted dip solution away. (Do two flowing rinses with a repositioning of the coin between rinses to make sure dip isn't trapped around whatever you are using to hold the coin while rinsing.) Remember when using dip RINSE RINSE RINSE!

Frankly I would forgo the rinsing bowls completely and substitute two flowing rinses for each of them. This makes a total of at least six flowing rinses.

I also like a final flowing rinse with pure acetone to act as a drying agent to remove the water rather than trying to dry the water off or letting the water air dry. The flowing acetone will dissolve the water and carry most of it off, the last traces will be widely dispersed in the acetone still on the coin and will be carried off with the acetone as it evaporates over the next few seconds. (Which is MUCH faster than it would dry if you just left the water alone.)

As a side note on clad coins you can try MS 70 as well depending on what you're trying to get off. That works very well on clad

That is true it isn't acidic, is is basic, and a base can be just as corrosive as an acid.

Best to rinse your coins off by pouring water over them not by dipping them in bowls. Also E-Z-Est is specifically for silver not for clad coinage.

E-z-est a.k.a. JeweLuster is, as noted above, specifically designed for removing tarnish from silver coins. It contains sulfuric acid and thiourea. "Tarnish" is silver sulfide, and silver sulfide readily reacts in such a solution, forming a silver-thiourea complex which is water-soluble, so the tarnish simply dissolves away. Hydrogen sulfide gas is also formed as a by-product, which is why silver-coin-dippers will often notice a "rotten egg smell" as they work. Silver metal is relatively resistant to such acids, so the bare metal of a silver coin is almost* unaffected by it.

* - the use of tarnish-removing chemicals on silver coins can be proven in a court of law, if and when people are inclined to do so.

However, dilute sulfuric acid will readily dissolve copper and nickel metal, as well as alloys thereof. The presence of thiourea is irrelevant in such a circumstance, it is only the sulfuric acid that will react. Dilute sulfuric acid attacks and dissolves the metal directly, though of course it will also attack and dissolve any corrosion products on the coin's surface. The end result will be an acid-etched coin, which will look duller and less attractive than a coin that was never tarnished-and-dipped. The acid will also create microscopic pits and bumps in the coin's surface, increasing the surface area of the coin. This has the result of "activating" the surface, so that it will tarnish much faster in the future.

It is a shame that so many don't realize that when a coin is cleaned, it is not only dirt that comes off, but a bit of metal too.