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 Replies: 13 / Views: 16,732 |
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Valued Member
United States
141 Posts |
The bigger part of my silver nickels are tarnished.
Can these be cleaned or should be left alone?
Moved to main US forum - Sap
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Rest in Peace
United States
3039 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1082 Posts |
As to tarnish, I think it depends on the colour. Whenever I have silver coins that are turning black, I just wipe them off with nothing more than my finger. The black comes off, and they look better.
Is it wrong to do this?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1285 Posts |
Luckydime, I too have this same ? and have given up on the cleaning venture. However, I did clean different dates and MM's which my son plans to keep forever (tagged them as such) with dish detergent and arm & hammer baking soda. This brought the shine out. There was some rubbing involved and I am sure the pros here would give me a nice scolding for doing so.  Peace |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3294 Posts |
Unless they are high grade, they are only worth melt anyways, so cleaning is not as big a deal to me as with numismatic value coins.
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Valued Member
United States
245 Posts |
Cleaning coins is never a good idea but for low end silver coins they sell a dip that isn't harsh on coin websites that will shine them up like new without the rubbing. I always try to buy uncleaned coins regardless of age or grade but that's just me.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Billon alloy(composed of <50% silver) coins have a tendency to turn dark grey or black which is why you see so many ugly War Nickels. If you have some really ugly common date War Nickels only worth silver value and you absolutely feel the need for them to look "better", I would recommend a brief dipping(2-3 seconds) in E-Z-Est followed by a thorough rinse in distilled water. E-Z-Est, aka "coin dip", is composed of sulfuric acid and thiourea and will remove tarnish/toning. This is not something I recommend lightly and would never recommend it for use by a novice on a coin with any numismatic value because too many people ruin their coins by dipping. Use it too long and do not rinse and you will have a dull, lifeless, and obviously cleaned coin that will more than likely be splotchy at some point in the future from dip residue. However, dipping is preferable to a mechanical cleaning involving rubbing of any kind. WHEN IN DOUBT, DO NOT CLEAN!Edited by biokemist6
02/26/2010 2:58 pm
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New Member
Paraguay
19 Posts |
As others said, it's always better to not clean.
Cleaning is, in some cases, necessary; but don't be a fan of cleaning, most collectors want their coins original and uncleaned. :)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6326 Posts |
 Yep ! ....... I posted the same exact question here a long time ago. And I took the same advice.......My bag of 100+ Silver War Nickels are still as black and ugly as the day I got them.....and those that I keep adding to my pile are the same way too. It's true enough....that if they're only worth melt value anyway......why clean something that most collectors would prefer to be left as is ?..... and most consider cleaning the coin...."ruining" the coin ! So.....there you go ! Leave em' as they are ! ......my vote ! Edited by eaglefoot
02/26/2010 3:48 pm
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New Member
United States
25 Posts |
I'm new to collecting but everything I've ever heard is to leave them alone, better dirty than ruined I guess.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2734 Posts |
 Don't clean War Nickels, clean up those dark common-date later Jefferson nickels that you find in your change, so that other collectors don't get all excited when they see a dark (common) Nickel in circulation...  I sure as heck can't be the only one on this forum who gets all excited when they're handed a dark Nickel in their change! Edited by DNA
02/27/2010 02:05 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6326 Posts |
Yep !! ....... ... I fall for that EVERY single time !! ..  Then you get the "furrowed brow" look when you discover that it's only a 1988 common date "hard lifer" Jefferson !! ....  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2734 Posts |
I've had a few VG/F 1964-D Nickels that were the exact same shade of dark grey as the G/VG War Nickels that are typically found in circulation, and that's just plain evil when they have the right shade and the right amount of wear to where the obverse looks 'dead-on' until it's close enough to read the date.... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1121 Posts |
gotta agree with biokemist6. if they are au/unc's take them to your local coin dealer and ask him or her to dip them. most will be happy to do the service knowing that there's a possiblilty of a future sale.
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Replies: 13 / Views: 16,732 |
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Posted 02/25/2010 9:57 pm
