How Do I Get My Old Coins To Look As Shiny As Some I See Here?

I mentioned on the page with Zurie's page on silver dollars a few good reasons

A common mistake made is that being "shiny" means a coin is worth more money. A coin being shiny coin does NOT make it more valuable unless that shine s from original mint luster.

Any attempt to shine up a coin is easily detected not only because those coins no linger have sharp details, but have been worn from circulation. Coins that are in the condition they left the mint will have crisply defined details in their design.

Add to the previous point that original mint luster can never be restored b/c that luster is a direct result of many tons of pressure slamming down onto the metal between the coin dies in a split second (also generating great heat) when the coin is minted. You need all of those things to create the original mint luster. No chemical or cleaning duplicates that physical process.

As for how some very old ones stay the way they were when made: It is because they had been stored away under the right conditions. They were not circulated (used) to get worn down.

Also many coins are "dipped" in a chemical bath that usually removes tarnish but doesn't affect the metal. The bad little secret about 3rd party graders is that many dipped coins will straight grade.

But there are some original coins that were stored in a controlled environment in archival conditions that didn't allow the environment to affect them. Some of these coins get a pretty toning from the storage but otherwise look like they came from the mint yesterday.

Earle42 -- Excellent summation.

To answer your question.

When a third party grader (like Anacs, PCGS or NGC) grade a coin they look for signs that a coin was messed with or has some type of damage.

If a dipped coin has no metal removed or damage from the dipping it will get a straight letter grade like MS65 (mint state 65 on a 1 to 70 scale).

If the coin was over dipped and damage was done to the luster or the metal the coin will get a details grade like Uncirculated cleaned or Uncirculated Harshly Cleaned. It's no longer straight grade.

If you want to learn more about that, we have plenty of threads to review.

https://www.google.com/search?q=sit....com+e-z-est

I keep E-Zest around myself, but have never used it on any collectible coin, only to lightly treat silver bullion rounds which have been improperly stored and have acquired unattractive toning.

Personally, I'd advise against using it in general. However, if you do try it, follow the instructions explicitly (including the safety procedures) and practice A LOT on junk silver. It can take surprisingly little time to cause permanent and irreversible damage to a coin.

Another danger is not properly removing all residue after dipping - I've seen coins that were damaged by not following the proper cleaning procedures after dipping (a lot of them can actually be seen in negative online reviews for E-Zest ). I've never had any issues myself, but I usually go through the rinsing process as recommended several additional times and follow up with an acetone soak...