| Author |
 Replies: 10 / Views: 8,123 |
|
|
New Member
United States
14 Posts |
Hi everyone -- I'm new here, but have been reading for a couple of weeks. This seems like a good resource and place to hang around. I've been going through rolls of coins obtained from banks, etc., and I've noticed that circulated coins tend to be somewhat dirty--just what I would describe as kind of invisible grime that shows up on your fingers (or gloves) as you handle a lot of them. Is there a good way to clean these up, like a solution of water and a little bit of mild soap (like Ivory)? Or should I just leave them alone? I know the general rule is not to clean, but what I'm looking to do is not like restoring shine. Just get the regular dirt off so it doesn't transfer to other surfaces.  Thanks in advance for any thoughts and advice! |
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1534 Posts |
Ivory soap would be a bad idea. Acetone and then a rinse of water should be fine, although I doubt the value of common circulated coins would be worth the cost of the acetone. When drying off the coins gently pat, don't rub.
|
|
New Member
Switzerland
46 Posts |
You can dip it in acetone for about 10 minutes and then rinse with water. Dry with a cotton cloth, do not rub the coin, it is better to pat it. I have heard that you can also leave it inside olive oil and then rinse and dry like described before.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
19948 Posts |
Dont clean them at all, it's a waste of time and you may ruin something of value should you find a worthwhile coin.
|
|
New Member
 United States
14 Posts |
Thanks for the input. It's probably true that the time involved would make it tough to get them all done. I think I'll leave them alone and use the time for looking for the missing dates etc.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
 Quote:
Posted Yesterday 6:20 pm
Dont clean them at all, it's a waste of time and you may ruin something of value should you find a worthwhile coin.
That is about all that is you should know for real. I know a claen coin looks pretty but if ruined by cleaning, your loss. Ever notice at the Museum they don't clean those Mummies. At the top of the page there is a tab called Search. Try it and type in coin cleaning, Acetone, cleaning coins, etc. |
|
Valued Member
India
265 Posts |
please dont clean your coins with any chemical or solution. Just use plain old soap water to clean dirt off your coins.
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
please dont clean your coins with any chemical or solution. Just use plain old soap water to clean dirt off your coins.
That is a really bad idea. Not cleaning coins is true but to use soap and water is even worse in some instances. For example some soaps are excessively abrasive. Purchase a bar of LAVA soap and try it on your hands as an example. Some soaps contain mild acids. And as to water. Just about anywhere on Earth you go water is different. If you live in a large city where the water is purified with gasses like Flourine or Chlorine, those gasses are not great for coins at all. In fact people are normally warned to allow tap water to sit for 24 hours prior to using on house plants since those gasses will kill plants. House water from a water softener is full of Salts too. May as well use borax and a coke to do that sort of cleaning. |
|
Valued Member
United States
121 Posts |
I have been known to clean some of my CRH silver finds in an ammonia and water combination. Then thoroughly rinsed with tap water. Granted I happen to have a particularly clean tap water source to rinse with where I live (Poland Spring Water aquifer). I only do it with some of my silver walkers and bens from circulation, copper doesn't get any cleaning.
Maine_Jim
|
|
Valued Member
United States
122 Posts |
I opened a roll of Kennedy Halfs yesterday and a lot of the coins had a gummy residue with small "piles" of this black gummy mess on them. You can feel it on the coin and it is sticky. WOuld the acetone be a good way of cleaning this gunk off these coins? They are just plain nasty and I don't want to leave this mess on the ones I want to add to my coin folder.
|
|
New Member
United States
17 Posts |
Alcohol, Acetone, And Hot water,one or all, just to get the crude off, but I only do this on silver all other metals, Hot water and leave alone.
|
| |
Replies: 10 / Views: 8,123 |
|
Posted 10/02/2010 1:51 pm
