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 Replies: 17 / Views: 3,850 |
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Valued Member
United States
463 Posts |
I have a lot of tarnished silver dimes and quarters. I soaked them in acetone for 24 hours and didn't make much if any difference. I have seen people on YouTube using baking soda, will that ruin a coin or if I send one in to grade, will they be able to tell if it has been cleaned with baking soda? Or is there a better way?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
701 Posts |
I just dont clean my coins, believe me, they're collectors out there who are willing to pay big bucks for those crusty looking coins. The crustier the better.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7036 Posts |
Some have said, that dipping is ok but only for a second or two and will not affect numist value..But unless you know what you are doing..I wouldn't try it on anything other than cull coins. You ask what do they dip it in? I'm not sure..something called e-z...something.. Wait for a pro to jump in..Yes.,TPG can tell a baking soda cleaning..
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Valued Member
 United States
463 Posts |
I want to check them for errors and they are too tarnished. I can't see the details I need to. I just buy them in bulk frequently to keep for their silver content and I've tried 5 different dealers. 2 of them consistently send me nice coins that I have found errors on but I have a lot from the others that look horrible and can't even put under the microscope. So I'm going to clean them one way or another whether it's just to store them or to look for errors.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
505 Posts |
Just WAIT until a pro can get on here with resources. I have my ways, but their not 'good' or 'appropriate' to share. My way can really screw up a coin and I don't want to be blamed.
But seriously, don't clean nothing until you get some pro feedback and resources. Cleaning coins can decimate the value, regardless of errors sometimes.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7036 Posts |
Have you tried the "search box"...type in something like "best way to conserve silver coins" and see what pops up..
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
NC808:
You may wish to post a picture of the silver coin, which you think most needs to be cleaned.
Having said that, I would be surprised if any of us here would recommend that it should be cleaned.
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
e Z est is the name of the dip. If I remember right,the 3 TPG's have an electronic sniffer that will detect a cleaning. Baking soda will scratch the heck out of it. And if you are talking about baking soda and aluminum and hot water,well that is still a dip. If you want to try out a certain cleaning method,do it on a junk coin and not one you are thinking of slabbing. John1  |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
I have cleaned lots of low value silver coins that are also in EF or less condition, and where most of the luster has gone,
in good old soap 'n water, rinsed, pat dried.
Don't ever touch proof coins like this, even if they have horrible toning.
Leave all AU or better coins well alone,
except for an acetone bath, irrespective of their value.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Remember that tarnishing, toning, corroding, etc. on Silver coins has been a chemical reaction of something with the Silver. Removing such reactive features also removes some of the metal. This is one of the reasons people do not appreciate cleaning Silver coins.
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
One thing for sure do not use baking soda on any coin no matter what the metal composition is . Acetone will not remove tarnish on silver coins . The safest way to do that is with the E-Z-est Dip . But because it will remove a micro layer of metal from the coin I Will only dip an uncirculated coin with tarnish and for only 2 or 3 seconds . Over dipping will cause coin to look dull .  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
505 Posts |
See? Now you have lots of info. I'll add to the others and say, if you try to clean a good looking coin, even if you dip it for more than 3 seconds (like T said) then it'll remove top layer...this layer is where the luster is, the pinwheel, the curves and intricacies of the strike! That's why cleaned coins look...bleh.
Sel_69I had a lot of fantastic advice in (his?) post.
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Valued Member
United States
463 Posts |
Ok thanks guys. All of these are only worth their silver content unless I find an error or something. I'll post a pic of the first batch of dimes I experimented with using acetone so you can see what they look like. If I use EZest, do you recommend rinsing with distilled water immediately after dipping? And can you dip it multiple times if still dirty as long as you do it for a few seconds at a time and let dry in between dipping?  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
505 Posts |
No, each subsequent dip will dull the coin. If at the very least the risk goes up.
Distilled water followed by a dry and the. One final 100% acetone dip.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Seems like a lot of effort, but good luck!
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Rest in Peace
United States
17900 Posts |
Good old coffee can stash. Probably silver value only, except the Mercury are worth a more detailed date/mm search.
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Replies: 17 / Views: 3,850 |
Posted 07/09/2019 12:55 am
