How To Clean Water Damaged Coins - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 8 / Views: 4,770
malawson New Member United States 1 Posts	Posted 06/13/2014 11:58 am Coins were stored in cardboard boxes that got wet from leaky pipe. Loose silver coins were darkened and roll packaging damaged. These are uncirculated silver coins. Please advise. Report this Post to the Staff

OcalaFlorida Pillar of the Community United States 2824 Posts	Posted 06/13/2014 12:19 pm malawson I would generally say.. leave them alone! Do not wash, rinse or put anything on them, they are worth more leaving them in their natural condition. But that is just me and I dont actually know what toning or damage is done from the cardboard/ water. It might help if you post a few photos showing the exact type and level of damage.. this might help greatly and wait for a expert to chime in Report this Post to the Staff
SsuperDdave Moderator United States 23522 Posts	Posted 06/13/2014 4:03 pm Welcome to Coin Community. It's possible that the permanent damage to value is already done, as the solution might be worse than the problem. This is not certain, though, and images are imperative for us to give you directed advice. We will do our best to help you find the least-intrusive path forward. Report this Post to the Staff
bpoc1 Rest in Peace United States 4078 Posts	Posted 06/13/2014 4:32 pm Malawson with SsuperDdave and well stated in his advice. A picture is needed and not that hard to do. I can not show the Upload Image I con Report this Post to the Staff
BadThad Bedrock of the Community United States 19949 Posts	Posted 06/14/2014 12:59 pm Welcome to CC! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CLEAN YOUR COINS! Doing so will more than likely make the situation worse. As a first step, buy yourself some quality, 100% acetone, rinse each coin (this will not harm them), put them into new 2x2's and store those in ziplock bags so you "freeze" the coins where they're at now. The first priority is getting them out of and away from the poor storage environment. After that you need to determine if any of them are potentially valuable as collector coins and worth performing conservation on. Many silver coins are basically worth their melt value and conserving those would be a waste of time/resources. Post some pictures here of the damage so we can tell you what's going on. Lincoln Cent Lover! VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/ Report this Post to the Staff
Nordic New Member United States 16 Posts	Posted 06/15/2014 02:56 am The water damage will certainly affect potential value but as difficult as it can be, don't attempt to clean them. That may only down grade the value more. BadThad gives great advice; place them in flips or 2 x 2s, ziplock and store them (preferably in fire proof/water proof) safe or similar container. Report this Post to the Staff
just carl Bedrock of the Community United States 20753 Posts	Posted 06/15/2014 08:26 am What Thad said. Can't make them worse and may well help them a little. Report this Post to the Staff
malawson New Member United States 1 Posts	Posted 06/18/2014 5:27 pm Thank you all for stopping the cleaning. Here is pix Report this Post to the Staff
MeadowviewCollector Pillar of the Community United States 4409 Posts	Posted 06/18/2014 8:01 pm I would get a new 2x2 for the 1904-O Morgan dollar and any other coins. These are an generally inexpensive. Open the old 2x2's carefully though as the staples can scratch the coin. As for the splotchy toning, I don't think there is any way to remove it without significant damage to the coin. -MV Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 8 / Views: 4,770

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