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 Replies: 33 / Views: 3,169 |
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
I've read some articles lately and there seem to be a contradiction in authers opinion about cleaning coins. Some say NEVER to clean a coin specially with Brasso and if you really need to clean a coin then use warm water and soap only and dry it with a cotton clothes. Other say NEVER SAY NEVER and they see that cleaning coins makes it more beautiful at least in the eyes of the owner.  Please send your opinion, and if you clean your coins, please tell us HOW? Especially if this doesn't ruin the coin or decrease its value |
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3831 Posts |
Where exactly do you read your articles? The only exception you should "clean" you coins is only if they are damaged coins, as in PVC damaged which can be easily solved if you use acetone.
No matter how much you try and clean your coins in any manners using any cleaner, it's useless. Coin experts can tell and not many people desire coins that is cleaned. Tell me, if I say cleaning a coin with a cloth is like wiping your skin with sandpaper, would you do that to yourself? Yes? No? I believe it's a no. Brasso is the same. It's a strong acid so it will not only eat away the contaminates of the surface but as well as a thin layer of the metal.
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Valued Member
United States
208 Posts |
Edited by RangerXLT8
12/01/2006 8:46 pm
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Pillar of the Community
 Egypt
3470 Posts |
I didnt say that I clean my coins or that I agree with any of these opinions, but since these opinions are new for me I tried to know what do everyone think of them. I just replied to a post saying that I admire an old coin rather than an uncirculated one, thus I would never clean a circulated coin just to see it bright and shiny.  So I agree totally with you  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2365 Posts |
Some do...some don't...I won't
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1203 Posts |
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Cleaning coins removes the toning and patina that has been built up over the years. This effects the value of the coin.
On the other hand those of us the collect ancient coins do for a lack of a better term clear our coins, only to remove several thousand years of dirt. Only going as far as removing the crud and not the patina.
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Moderator
Australia
16827 Posts |
Here's an old forum thread on cleaning I found in the forum archives - there are some good posts in there. A rather long-winded post by me  in that thread can be summed up in one sentence: If you clean coins, you'd better have a darned good reason. 
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
3147 Posts |
If you have any sense of REAL value and history you NEVER EVER clean a coin. While they may pretty up a bit it is almost impossible to clean without damaging the coin. A real collector or dealer will ALWAYS check a coin with a magnifying glass before purchasing and cleaning WILL destroy the value, even in key dates, so if you have any desires in the future about your collection DON'T clean your coins. I have an example of value lying right in front of me at this time. My dealer bought an 1830 Bust Half Dime which should have run around the $35 to $45 level for practically nothing due to what he thought was glue on the reverse of the coin. He made NO attempt to clean this coin but did offer it to me for $4.00 and then only charged me $3.00 when I decided to add it to my son's collection. Upon returning home I decided to take the Half Dime out of the 2X2 to clean it with a little MS-70 which I would never do but seeing how this coin was already a problem I felt I had nothing to lose. As soon as I touched the reverse of the coin I realized it was NOT glue but the sticky remains of tape as someone had apparently scotch taped the coin to a page or piece of cardboard at some period in time. The sticky rolled right off after applying a drop of water and I managed to get the "buy of the week" that had been perceived by my dealer to be a ruined piece of junk. This is an example of why there are DO"s and DON'T's in our hobby that can and will destroy the value of your coins. In this particular case someone LOST the real value of his coin simply by scotch taping it. The dealer noticed the residue and the value dropped to nearly nothing! Cleaning coins, especially a harsh cleaning, destroys the value and regardless of the rarity MOST collectors will not purchase a cleaned coin. And most attempts at cleaning, regardless of how careful you are, will show under magnification. Do yourself a favor and accept coins as they are and avoid cleaning at all costs. If you don't like "dirty" coins then pass on them! Old Dan I can't believe you send those precious little darlings down to the creek all by themselves. Here in the mid-west we always hire a body guard to send the kids off skinny dipping and if one is not available a good English Coin dog will keep them herded up and safe! Of course, if there is copper in the bunch, we send along a good Kentucky Copper Hound as well! Edited by crystalk64
12/02/2006 9:51 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4589 Posts |
One of the excepted exceptions to the rule is Ancients . or at least one encrusted with earth and contamination after being buried for So many Years or In the Depths of an Ocean
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Pillar of the Community
Egypt
3470 Posts |
All collectors, dealers and most of article authors agree that cleaning a coin would ruin it and decrease much of its value. But do anyone think that removing dirt from a coin by just emersing it in warm water with or without soap will decrease its value because I have some coins that are really dirty but I am afraid to ruin them by any means. Still I cant enjoy owning them in this condition so I really need a professional advice, should I clean the dirt or should I resell them as they are? |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4589 Posts |
try olive oil or ,even distilled water long soaks only air dry, are they really incrusted ?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
First of all if you feel you have to clean a coin you should only use a purified, concentrated form of cleaning agents such as Sulfuric, Nitric or Hydrochloric Acids. Do not ever use diluted forms of these due to possible contaminations. Better yet look up Aqua Regia and try to use that on your coins. Note when doing this don't forget to leave your coins in the solution until they appear to vanish. This will asure the cleanist possible coins.  Of course never clean a coin. Also, note people that tell you it is OK to clean off the PVC with Acetone are truly wouldabe chemist at heart. PVC is a stable, at normal temperatures, Plastic. It will not even begin to melt until 212 degrees C (413F). And if your coins have been in that amount of heat, I don't think it is the PVC you have to worry about. Other terms of people used on coin forums are Patina or Verdigris. Some are like parrots and repeat new teminology to impress others. If not sure what is on a coin, long before cleaning it, verify what that substance may be composed of. ALWAYS remember that most substances on a coin are compounds of the coins metal plus an ouside agent and removing such a substance will always remove some of the metal of the coin. This is why it is so noticable that a coin has been cleaned. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
595 Posts |
Well, so who buys dirty coins? I have never spent major bucks on a coin -- and never will -- that looks like it needs to be washed. Old Dan -- when you send the coins down to the creek, do you instruct them to beat each other on rocks?  Just curious. Jan |
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Rest in Peace
United States
3730 Posts |
Edited by Gary Burke
12/02/2006 11:00 pm
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Moderator
Australia
16827 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by just carl
Of course never clean a coin. Also, note people that tell you it is OK to clean off the PVC with Acetone are truly wouldabe chemist at heart. PVC is a stable, at normal temperatures, Plastic. It will not even begin to melt until 212 degrees C (413F). And if your coins have been in that amount of heat, I don't think it is the PVC you have to worry about.
Sure, pure PVC is a relatively harmless, stable plastic, though it does degrade over time. It's also hard and brittle, quite unsuitable for making coin pages out of. But PVC is cheap. That's why, when they made those nice soft flexible coin pages out of PVC, they pumped it full of plasticizers. If the plasticizer was not chosen carefully (ie they chose "cheap" rather than "acid-free"), acidic by-products would slowly leach out of the plastic onto the coin. It's this which causes most of the "PVC damage", the green stuff which is actually a sticky mixture of plasticizer, degraded and depolymerized plastic, water, and metallic compounds formed from the reaction between the coin and the acid - not that much different from old stickytape residue. The main reasons that removing it is recommended are, as far as I can tell: - it looks ugly, and is easily removed by solvents such as acetone without harming the coin further. Thie coin has, however, already been damaged, and the surface is usually left "hazed". - the green goo can migrate back into whatever new plastic container it's placed into next, potentially starting a new cycle of plastic degradation and coin damage. You may occasionally find 1970's-era PVC albums and pages where the plastic has gone hard and brittle - I suspect most of the plasticizer has escaped from these over the years, leaving pure PVC behind. These should, for the most part, be "safe" to store coins in, if a tad difficult to get them in and out. 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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Replies: 33 / Views: 3,169 |
Posted 12/01/2006 8:45 pm
