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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,070 |
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New Member
United States
1 Posts |
Hello, I am new to this site. I have inherited a coin collection with US pennies, dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollars. There are also foreign coins from Mexico, Belgium, Korea, Ireland, and Canada. Looking at the collection, I have many questions. 1. There are quite a few pennies but some of them are dark and dirty. Is there a safe way to clean them? 2. I have begun researching how to determine whether or not a coin has value based on several markers (depending on the coin). Is/Are there reliable sites or apps that can be used to determine the value of a coin? Thanks for any help provided. Coindiggers12
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Moderator
 United States
187446 Posts |
 to the Community! Your reply was split into its own topic and moved to the appropriate forum for the proper attention. 
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Moderator
 United States
56855 Posts |
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Moderator
 United States
94636 Posts |
 to CCF The first this you can do for us, is to post up a few of the coin you have (one coin per topic if you please) then we could help you. But first and foremost: Do Not Clean Any of Your Coins You will destroy any possible value they may hold. and here at CCF, we can help you with almost all of your coin questions, We just need to see nice in focus properly cropped images of your coins (both side please)
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
7174 Posts |
 to the CCF and 
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Same.  to the CCF!
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Moderator
 Australia
16805 Posts |
Hello and welcome.  As for your questions: 1. Coin collectors generally do not like their coins to "look cleaned". A penny that is "dark and dirty" has usually earned that appearance through honest use as a coin, and we prefer to see that history preserved. It is impossible to make a coin "look like new again", so we strongly recommend not trying. There are some exceptions to the "don't clean coins" rule, but without actually seeing your coins, we're all better off assuming that the rule applies in this case. 2. When looking at coin valuation sites, it is important to distinguish between two types of coins. "Slabbed" coins are coins that have been authenticated and assigned a "grade" or condition by a trusted neutral third party grading company. Slabbed coins are generally more valuable than unslabbed or "raw" coins. Assuming your inherited collection is raw, make sure you're looking at a "raw coins" price list.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3535 Posts |
Get yourself some cotton gloves for handling your coins, as fingerprints can be left on any coin, and will detract from the value as well as the appearance.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2951 Posts |
 with all of the above, but using 100% acetone properly can burn off much of accumulated organic material usually pretty well without harming the underlying coin. Of course there are many threads here on the CCF that explains that process quite well. 
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
73579 Posts |
 To CCF! I agree with the above comments. Post pictures of them, so that way we can help you.
Errers and Varietys.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19930 Posts |
Welcome and good luck!
DO NOT CLEAN OR ATTEMPT TO ALTER ANY OF YOUR COINS.
Lincoln Cent Lover!VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/
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Moderator
 United States
15381 Posts |
 to the CCF
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Valued Member
United States
354 Posts |
 I would recommend you get organized by cataloging your collection as a first step. Then you can determine where you want to focus your attention.
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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,070 |
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