Is cleaining always a bad idea ?

rollmeupAbe

Remember what Forrest Gump's mama always said, "Stupid is as stupid does".

I am new to collecting and have read numerous articles about not cleaning coins. My interest is in errors like RPMs, double dies, etc. Sometimes on a circulated penny you can not even see a RPM with all the crud on the coin so cleaning it is the only way to reveal the hidden treasure beneath. I have been using MS 70 with a Q tip to clean off the junk and the coins do not appear harmed to an untrained eye.

Is my name Forrest ?

FC57Coins

Depends - do you like fried shrimp. boiled shrimp....

Anyway, welcome to the boards, I can see your dilema, but cleaning copper is probably the most difficult thing to do in this hobby. You'll probably get some good advice from some of the copper pros in here.

Frank

Dave99B

A rinse with warm water is about it. NO RUBBING/FRICTION!

Other than that, NO!!!

Dave

kryptonitecomics

Don't try to clean copper you won't be very successful. As for silver coins, if it's uncirculated and your trying to get rid of some unwanted toning, then a dip in MS70 isn't too big a deal. If it a well circulated example, I wouldn't touch it with anything but a little soap and water. I use wood toothpicks to get the crud out from around the date and mintmarks. It doesn't scratch the coins surface and it has a point that is small enough to get inside and around dates and mint marks.