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 Replies: 9 / Views: 1,014 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2254 Posts |
quote:
I have some old coins that are tarnished. How can I safely clean them?
Once a coin has been tarnished, there is no way to completely restore the newly-minted luster. The United States Mint does not recommend cleaning of coins and it should be noted that the condition of a coin plays an important part in its valuation as a collector's item. The finish could be inadvertently destroyed or seriously affected by the indiscriminate use of a cleaning agent. If you believe that you have coins that are, or could be, of numismatic value, you should seek advice from a coin dealer or advanced collector regarding methods currently being used by them to clean coins.
Straight from the Treasury Dept website. Just thought I'd post as they gave a decent answer....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
954 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2269 Posts |
Thanks for the information it should be helpful to everyone who is contemplating cleaning a coin. You should also post that, every time someone asks the question about cleaning coins.  |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
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Rest in Peace
United States
2684 Posts |
What this tells me is that there's someone in government who is still competent. Why hasn't s/he been fired?   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
527 Posts |
I have been cleaning coins in a way that I hope is not harmful to them. I use a Steam Jet that I picked up at a hardware store. It blasts off the dirt, but it is non-abbrasive and doesn't contain any harmfull chemicals. It has no effect on tarnish however. If this is a bad idea, somebody stop me!!!
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3831 Posts |
Very bad idea Giles. Silver coins are generally very soft, with the Moh's hardness of just 3.0. While blasting it off with some jet steam seems "ok", don't forget that in dirt, there can be some quartz, which is a relatively hard mineral! Hardness of 6.0 can easily scratch silver. Unless you are 1000% sure that the dirt contains ZERO quartz or other hard minerals, then you can proceed with it.
My partial coin collection http://www.omnicoin.com/collection/gxseriesMy numismatics articles and collection: http://www.gxseries.com/numis/numis_index.htmRegularly updated at least once a month. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
2254 Posts |
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Why hasn't s/he been fired?
I don't know how old the question/article is Fred, so chances are they are not there anymore.  I just wanted to post since I actually found some useful information from a .gov website!! and like Spider said, it's perfect for the question that comes up every month or so. People may assume more truth in the statement since the "US MINT does not recommend it" compared to just forum members stating it. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
830 Posts |
quote:
What this tells me is that there's someone in government who is still competent. Why hasn't s/he been fired?
... private contractor perhaps ... ? |
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Valued Member
United States
390 Posts |
"What this tells me is that there's someone in government who is still competent. Why hasn't s/he been fired?" Maybe there is a coin collector or two working at the Treasury? |
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Replies: 9 / Views: 1,014 |
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Posted 03/12/2007 8:42 pm
