Silver coin cleaner, yea/nay?

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My local dealer sells a product called e-z-zest. They say you can clean a coin with this and it does not hurt it. I have used it to clean a couple coins from my silver stack, I made sure that's all they were worth, melt. Is this an acceptable cleaner, or does it ruin coin value? They told me you can't tell if a coin has been cleaned with this and does not affect values. I used it on a coin recently that had strange toning, the morgan with grill marks on the back, I won't go as far as calling it a miracle worker, but it sure made one heck of a difference on it. It also went into my silver stack.

What say ya'll? Any experience, good/bad, or should it only be used on stacker coins/rounds?

If all you have is a coin that's worth melt and you want to clean it then a nice scrub with Sodium BiCarbonate (Baking Soda) is excellent. It is abrasive but should make it a nice and shiny piece of silver.

if you're going to dip one,I think e-z-zest is the best....I do this= 5 seconds,,no rubbing,,water rinse real good,,pat dry....the purists are running!

I've used EZ Zest before and it does work if done properly. You do not want to leave a coin in this stuff too long or it will strip the mint lustre from the surface and leave you with a dull "over-dipped" look.

If you use it,dip it as quickly as possible and rinse as quickly as possible. I also dilute it with distilled water to weaken the strength. Practice on junk coins for awhile.
John1

practice makes perfect..why do you think there are so many blast white 70+ year old coins in holders.. They were dipped in the day, and that was acceptable then.. also be careful when dipping some coins, as it will be so obvious, that the coin will get a details grade.. Light even toning, is the best bet to dip. If you have splotchy toning, or wear spots in the toning, it will reveal worse, than had you not dipped..

So that's where the blast white comes from? I dipped them for less than 5 seconds. Then rinse in soapy water, then rinse under running water. I would not do this for a coin that was not in or going to my silver stack. I was just curious as the coin dealer tells me it's ok to use this stuff on coins. Kinda figured coins of value would not be a good idea.

eZest is an acid dip that removes toning. It removes a fine layer of metal each time the coin is dipped. If you dipped some silver dollars, there will be fine specs of silver noticeable in the blue liquid. Coins below a high AU grade should not be dipped in eZest as the coin will look dipped/cleaned. Keep the circulated coins out of the dip. eZest can do wonders for an uncirculated Morgan that has ugly toning.

Don't know why so many just have to try to clean coins. And so many products on the market to help them too.

Quote:
eZest can do wonders for an uncirculated Morgan that has ugly toning.

And with that comment, I say dip every coin that has toning. I dislike toning very much, but to each his own. The one I dipped, went from fugly artificial tone to nice coin in a matter of seconds. It still went into my melt bag.

Again, this coin is now in a melt bag. First set of pics are non-cleaned with horrible toning. Second set after quick dip in e-z-est. It removed the toning but you can still barely see the grill marks on the reverse. Again, I would not do this to a coin that had any collect-ability. Yes, I do get the consensus of *do not clean*.

1st:

2nd, cleaned:

Edited by NDBirdman
02/12/2019 11:29 am

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Ok, now as a teaching tool, tell/show me how you can tell this coin was cleaned. Could this coin pass as non-cleaned as the dealer told me it would, or is it forever in a melt bag? Does this now ban me from the collecting realm as I cleaned a coin? Remember, teaching tool.

You can tell it has been cleaned because it now has a flat "dead" look to it.

I see what you mean. I was expecting to see pitting or something. It's not totally dead, it's worth melt price so it's still a win for me. Thanks.

If any silver coin is melt value only, I see nothing wrong with cleaning it, by whatever method.

Sei - I agree.

In this case, the cleaning is clearly an improvement over the original state. I think he can get slightly above melt for this coin on the bay.

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