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 Replies: 12 / Views: 2,488 |
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New Member
Australia
4 Posts |
Hi everyone, my first post here. Great forum by the way! I've been collecting a while, and I know it is taboo to clean coins...but I am wondering about modern era coins. I am collecting sets of each denomination when they changed the Elizabeth II design. Just normal circulation coins. I've been wiping some of them with a dry chux cloth to get them looking a bit better, and I've been wondering about a bit of warm water? The cloth will never go near my pennies, shillings and farthings though  P. |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
877 Posts |
 You will find this is a good spot for information. Try here http://reviews.ebay.com/How-to-Remo...000017991989 or look at My CCF, Member List for BadThad (aka q3excessive) -he is the authority on what you may or may not do. Only trouble is he has so many posts it is hard to find the one you might want. Perhaps if you try a forum search for "conserving" or "cleaning" that might turn up more information. Acetone and xylene are available at most hardware store in the paint section. Cheers, Jeff |
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Valued Member
Australia
262 Posts |
welcome!! I collecting modern coins as well~
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
If you like them better cleaned and they arent partivularly valuable then go or it.
If I get what you are doing you should be able to get all the coins from circulation except for 1985 and only then with those only in mint sets. Just imagine the horrors most circulation coins have been through! a little soap isn't goin to hurt.
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Valued Member
Australia
465 Posts |
Unless they are proof condition then I suppose cleaning / wiping them with a cloth with soapy water will not harm them. I am open to being told that I am wrong on this of course! I don't clean mine at all, in fact I collect some of the dirtiest ones in a seperate collection  |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
7096 Posts |
Have all you noodler's noticed the filth on your fingers after going through a heap of coins  I would suggest that cleaning circulated cu/n coins is a good idea just for health reasons alone. Some of the mine sites I work on use some pretty dangerous and poisonous chemicals and these are often transferred to the coins via the coke machine. As long as they are circulated coins I really cannot see any harm in a bit of hot soapy water, distilled water and a pat dry. I have yet to see soapy water tone a 20 cent coin |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Some gardeners have green thumbs, some coin collectors have coppered thumbs. That's me! Clean 'em!
With coins taken from a dealer's junk box, a simple wash with soap and water isn't going to hurt. I'm sure cheapie coins don't mind a wash! Besides, I always wash my hands before leaving a coin show.
One of the processes at a mint involves pickling planchets with acid, then rinsing and drying them before striking. This was done with quaternary metal. If they can do it with new coins, I can't see why I can't do it with old ones!
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Valued Member
Australia
369 Posts |
 Don't see a problem with a little clean. The Hysteria over cleaning coins stems from dealers seeing coins come in being cleaned with Brasso and wire brushes and dipped in Coke. So they advised a blanket "Don't clean coins". Totally agree about the health hazard with dirty coins. No Harsh chemicals and no harsh rubbing and it is quite acceptable to me. |
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New Member
 Australia
4 Posts |
Thanks for the feedback everybody. I guess I was doing it anyway, but I was interested to see what the consensus was on it.
@enrob - I was wondering about the 1985 coins. For example the 20cent. My Mcdonald book states that 2.7mill were minted (which isn't much in the scheme of things I guess), but why are they so hard to come by? (in your opinion)
P
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New Member
Australia
4 Posts |
@jeff
Just read your article on cleaning - very thorough! I have a lot of older coins (2 generations of my family in the army and navy in WWI and II - they bought home a lot of change!) and I might apply some of your ideas.
P
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
4411 Posts |
I am yet to find a 1985 in the wild. As suggested by FNQ I think in another thread a couple days ago the 1985 is probably scarce due to it being the first of that design and being collected when they were released. 2.7 million is a low mintage and if some were hoarded then I can understand not finding one. Buy one for your set I think. You will also need to buy the 1985 5c. The 10c and 50c are fairly hard to find in the wild but not impossible if you try. The $1 is very common.
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
877 Posts |
Paredair and, please, just call me Jeff. I don't need an ampersand. Keep looking around; a wealth of coin information here (other things too). @Jeff PS. It is BadThad's article. I just pointed the way to it.  Edited by Jeff
04/13/2012 03:55 am
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New Member
Australia
4 Posts |
Thanks for that Enworb - I see that 5c was only available in 1985 in a mint set, not circulation.
No problem about the ampersand Jeff. I've only lurked here a bit and I saw it in a lot of the posts. Glad not to use it!
P
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Replies: 12 / Views: 2,488 |
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Posted 04/12/2012 02:20 am
