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Pillar of the Community
United States
1045 Posts |
In the ancient coin collecting realm, cleaning is kind of a necessary evil, but I know sometimes is considered taboo when talking about modern coins. My apologies if this is the wrong thread for posting. Any suggestions on how to clean up this common chunk of silver. Thanks in advance, -Kurt  Edited by Biancasdad
02/13/2014 4:16 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote:
but I know sometimes is considered taboo when talking about modern coins.
Its one of those things that has so many variables that theres not a single correct answer so dont do it is the default position to prevent people from ruining something. Generally speaking its one of those things that if you have to ask what to do you shouldnt be the one doing it until you research it more. Different problems will have different answers and you also have to considered if the finished product would look worse than before. It also depends on what type of coin and the condition. You cant really ruin things worth spot since it will always have its metal content. Numismatic things though are very easy to ruin. Putting something in acetone is considered to be acceptable for almost everything. The picture is messing up on my browser at the moment but that looks like a morgan which wouldnt be a "common chunk of silver". They have a premium over bullion even in common dates. With the pictured messed up for me I'm not going to try and give specific advice but Acetone would probably be fine. Track down Ssuperdave, he loves morgans and knows all the tricks for treating them. |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
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Track down Ssuperdave, he loves morgans and knows all the tricks for treating them. No need to track me down. If my name is mentioned in the Forum, I know it.  Nothing wrong with talking about cleaning coins. There are certain cases where actions construable as "cleaning" are the right thing to do with the coin. It's in the "act before talking" process where one gets off-key, so to speak. This coin's a good example. I don't see ever restoring the coin to something resembling "original" condition - you'd probably need a tool requiring 5cfm @ 100psi to get that stuff off, or a chemical that would require a DOT HazMat license to deliver to you. I'm not saying it's a lost cause, but....heck, it's a lost cause. This would be an ideal time to learn proper acetone technique. I think the cause here is chemical, but there remains a remote possibility that it's some sort of paint or paint byproduct (the "rust" color reminds me of primer thinned too much) and acetone should knock that out if it is. Do your due diligence. Search the Forum for our numerous discussions of acetone use, follow the rules of safe usage and gave a go at it. For the first soak, put it in the container you choose and forget about it for at least overnight, maybe 24 hours. Don't worry about the warnings about stuff getting redeposited or rinses or changing the solution; let the acetone work. It won't hurt the coin, and all you want is to see some difference. Any difference. If you can manage that, then you know to get serious about using acetone systematically to attempt successful removal. |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1045 Posts |
Thank you both for taking the time to give such informative responses.
I will definitely give the acetone a go after a little research and post any improvement pictures in the future.
Thanks again, -Kurt
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1314 Posts |
Kurt,
You've done something correctly already, you have the "before" pictures.
Can't wait to see the progression. Good luck.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5209 Posts |
If it was my coin I would throw it in my pocket and hope it wore slick in 20 years. While the coin has UNC Details it is a 1921  |
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
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While the coin has UNC Details it is a 1921
Easy, now.  |
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Valued Member
United States
261 Posts |
That coin will need acid.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
8517 Posts |
Looks like a Hurricane Sandy survivor I bought off ebay. Oregon coin geek.....*** GO BEAVS ! ! ! ***
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1045 Posts |
No improvement after 24 acetone bath. Actually looks worse to my eyes with the new shiny contrast. No harm no foul, instead I learned a lot about using acetone from reading so many threads last night. Cheers for all the responses BEFORE  AFTER  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
940 Posts |
Thanks for showing the before and after images of your Morgan for our benefit. The thought of treating coins makes us all nervous, and your case helps us learn.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19964 Posts |
That coin is a goner. It looks like an old cleaning actually caused the damage.
I always recommend starting with distilled water.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Due to what I see I would consider a jewlery cleaner. At Walmart they sell a few varieties of that. One is primarily for Silver Jewlery. I've used it on Silver coins that too looked like yours and it worked great. Remember, once this is done, it will always be a cleaned coin but if looking better than that, only could be an improvement. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1045 Posts |
JC, That is ironic. I just sold my jewelry store a couple of years ago and actually have all of the jewelry cleaner types from Walmart packed away somewhere. I will give that a go and see what happens. Cheers, -Kurt Edited by Biancasdad
02/15/2014 2:13 pm
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
The usual choice for stripping a coin is thiourea - we call it "dip" in the hobby - and the resulting coin is, of course, worth only silver value. I generally don't favor its' use, especially by a less-experienced collector, but this coin is so far gone I'm not going to recommend against it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1045 Posts |
Officially cleaned with the jewelry cleaner for silver. I am happy with this result. Coin was bought in a lot of old US silver basically for the bullion content anyway. Now it will look nicer as it sits in my hoard stash until my 2 year old daughter wants to cash in it after I croak  |
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Replies: 21 / Views: 3,196 |
Posted 02/13/2014 6:42 pm
