Dollar Manganese-Brass Condition

Slerk, moisture / humidity + skin acids are the major cause of problems with them, as well as with other coins. If you clean them with acetone and then store them in a flip or 2X2 they should be fine.

no don't wipe them - you could scratch them and make matters worse. just a long dip in acetone to get any organic stuff off of them.

All mine from uncirculated and proof mint sets — which have been moved to Dansco albums — are as nice as they day I got them from the mint.

Many of the ones I have pulled from circulation have not aged well. Even some that looked okay when pulled have started to turn. I might have had better results had I given them a good acetone rinse when pulled, but I did not feel it was necessary since I was getting better ones from the Mint to fill my albums.

If they have toned, then you didn't protect them well enough.

They shouldn't need a long soak, as you're not trying to remove a decades-old accumulation of contaminants. A few minutes should be enough to clean off any light soiling or contaminants. But make sure to use new acetone, and give each coin a final rinse with fresh clean acetone. Wear gloves or use non-metal tongs to handle them.

I think we can agree that for the most part, if they aren't handled, they stay shiny and retain their attractive "gold" appearance. Abrasions from circulation, skin oils & other contaminants start the process of "dulling". A lot of us have rolls and bowls of of NIFC dollars - personally I prefer metal dollars and use them daily. But I'm off point here.

By law, the Presidential dollar series had to be completed but by the time we got to the 20th century POTUSs, the market was kinda saturated and most of us only had the few that came in our uncirculated mint sets. That didn't stop the mills at the mints, though. Rolls and bags were still being sold to mint customers and I couldn't help myself from buying a few of those presidents that were known to casual buyers at coin shows, e.g., Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson. The point is that the dollars that were distributed in these later rolls lacked the gold luster of earlier issues distributed by most banks and the specimens in mint sets. Anybody else notice similar?

I didn't see this mentioned in the numi-media or online but you can't follow every thing [and I did spend big chunks of those years either comatose or close]. I'll keep spending whatever they strike. I tend to take NIFC as a challenge!

Unfortunately they are part of the coin now. Washing with soap/water or acetone will remove residual organic matter and acids but the coins, but they have been etched. It will help to prevent the prints from getting worse.