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 Replies: 7 / Views: 1,594 |
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Valued Member
United States
132 Posts |
Hi guys, ok.. I know that cleaning coins is generally not a good idea, and I have never cleaned one before. But, I have read about a few products on here that people seem to like, for example Nic-A-Date and Verdi-Care and other dips. Now, I would never want to damage a coin, especially one that I paid for, so my question is when is it ok to carefully use one of these products? Or to put it another way, what should the coin look like or have on it that one of these products would be beneficial to use?
PS: I'm not looking at cleaning every coin in my collection, don't panic. I just want to see if there are any worth improving safely?
Thanks
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
36746 Posts |
Boy you are going to get answers all over the place on this subject. PCGS and NGC will grade coins that have been professionally "dipped" with solutions like Jeweluster. I'm not sure about Verdi-Care or Nic-A-Date.
I think it is best that you do not attempt to clean your coins. The market has changed from the old thought that a bright shinny coin is better. We are now in a market where an original unmolested coin is more desirable and will command a higher price.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Nic-A-Date is not a cleaner, it is a metal etchant used to reveal the date on worn dateless Buffalo nickels and it will only work on CuNi alloy. Verdicare is not a cleaner either, it is a conservation solution designed to treat light verdigris. |
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Valued Member
 United States
132 Posts |
Thanks for the comment Indian. I'm not looking to make my coins "bright and shinny", I'm more talking about removing a spot on a coin, a piece of gunk or a thin layer of gunk from a coin without altering the way the rest of the coin looks and without ruining the value. I'm also not going to try on anything worth more then a few bucks.
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5174 Posts |
If so what you should be looking for is apparently acetone.
I don't know how the heck it works, but from what I've heard acetone is very good at dissolving away most sorts of gunk without damaging the coin at all (then again, I've never tried it, I'm just recounting what others have said).
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Valued Member
United States
366 Posts |
I've had mixed results with Acetone. when you say clean spots make sure they aren't verdigris. Unfortunately, acetone doesn't do much for it.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
I don't know how the heck it works, but from what I've heard acetone is very good at dissolving away most sorts of gunk without damaging the coin at all (then again, I've never tried it, I'm just recounting what others have said). One of and maybe the most discussed subject here. If you check the Search Tab at the top and type in Acetone, might find a zillion (exageration) posts about that stuff. I myself us a Brass wire wheel turning at about 1850 RPM's for cleaning coins. And if you hold it in your fingers, you get your finger nails cleaned too.  As usual, if you do not know how to properly clean a coin, just DON'T. And of course there is no real way to clean a coin so again, DON'T. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19957 Posts |
Every problem is specific to the coin and must be treated individually. Don't take generic advice telling you to use this or that. Chances are they won't work or, worse yet, they ruin your coin(s).
Also, there's a BIG difference between conservation and cleaning.
Cleaning = Market unacceptable
Conservation = Market acceptable
Keep in mind, some coins are not worth the effort of conservation. If you're going to take on a project, make sure it's worth the effort in the end. If you have a coin you feel is worthy of the process, post a picture of it here so we can get an idea of the nature of the problem. We can give you some guidance once we know what we're dealing with.
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Replies: 7 / Views: 1,594 |
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Posted 06/20/2012 10:01 am
