Should you clean coins?

jogbill

Is it acceptable to clean coins? If so, what cleaning methods are O.K.?
I've recently rejoined the hobby after an absence of 30 years. Back in the old days you would NEVER, NEVER clean or polish a coin. Now, as I look over the list of coin supplies available, I'm amazed at the number of coin cleaning products on the market. What gives here?
Thanks. Bill

Catch22

Nothing has changed since you were last involved. Cleaning is still frowned upon. However, like then, there is cleaning and then there is cleaning.

jhar

No you should not ever, clean a coin yourself, unless you know EXACTLY what you are doing. However, with the emergance of NGC sister company NCS you can now have coins professionally "Curated".

Barry

Coin cleaning is only acceptable when done by a grading service's sister company

granddad

You can clean your coins right after drilling a hole in them for that necklace.

earlwbollinger

Before World War One, cleaning coins, and varnishing or waxing them was quite acceptable.
They used to sometimes polish them up to get that pretty shine back too.
Back then most everyone used wood coin cases with sliding felt lined drawers and they'd place the coins inside.
You can to dust them off from time to time too.
Today cleaning is really bad and frowned upon, as it pretty much renders a coin worthless down to it's face or bullion value.
You should leave the coin as is. Like you already stated never never clean or polish a coin.
Now if a coin has been ruined by corrosion, carbon spots or PVC damage then you can clean it to preserve it, as it has lost a lot of it's value at that point anyway.
In this case one of the cleaning products should work OK.

Now if your talking about ancient or early medieval period coins, cleaning is OK in most cases, as you would clean the coin suffuciently so as to allow you to attribute it.
But one has to be careful so that you don't overclean the ancient coin and start removing the coin's features.

All those cloin cleaning and dipping products are for those scam artists trying to make a coin look better so they can rip off some unsuspecting buyer.

earlwbollinger

Oh yeah, if you really want to clean a coin,
I would suggest soaking it in clear olive oil for a year or so. Less if it is a mild cleaning.
Acetone works to remove some spotting from a coin, but this has to be done carefully.
Acetone carefully applied can remove those fresh fingerprints.
Sometimes you only let the fumes or vapor touch the coin.
Denatured alcohol is another solvent that works OK too.
The dipping stuff you see some people sell, is something I avoid, it is too easy to make the coin look unnatural.
But the Morgan Dollar fanatics (scam artists?) sometimes dip a coin in an attempt to get it to bump up a grade
before they submit it for grading. This can make a huge difference in selling price in some cases.
But it is super easy to ruin the coin in the process.
Go to a coin show and look at all the Morgan Dollars there. It won't take you too long to see the unnatural colored ones as compared to the undipped ones.
Of course if someone does the dipping just right it does unfortunately work though.

bosox

When NCS cleans a coin and then NGC grades it, do they annotate the slab as "cleaned"?

kamehameha00

<< <i>When NCS cleans a coin and then NGC grades it, do they annotate the slab as "cleaned"? >>



They designate the problem on the slab, weather it be corrosion, cleaning, etc.

GregTheGreat

Does anyone have anything to say about E-Zest?

-Greg

airplanenut

<< <i>

<< <i>When NCS cleans a coin and then NGC grades it, do they annotate the slab as "cleaned"? >>



They designate the problem on the slab, weather it be corrosion, cleaning, etc. >>

Wrong, that's if NCS encapsulates a damaged coin. NGC will grade a coin out of NCS if there is no damage remaining.

In the current market, there's harsh cleaning and dipping--dipping is acceptable. NCS does nothing harsh, rather they carefully remove surface contaminants, etc. These coins aren't considered cleaned and will likely slab anywhere.

Jeremy

nwcs

There are a lot of opinions on this one. I believe we must define three "cleanings":

1. Non surface altering
2. Miniscule surface change
3. Harsh cleaning

The first category would be things such as acetone which can clean off some surface contaminants but does not alter the coin's metal. The second category I would say is a very light appropriately neutralized dip to eliminate undesirable tarnish or surface contaminants that would not come off with the first category. The last would be the rest, things that move metal creating hairlines, scratches, or other more dramatic imperfections.

I think most people agree that the first category is always OK. And many people think the second is OK but there is a difference of opinion on how much originality is left. And most people think the third is never OK.

cladking

It is imperative to clean some coins. Surface contaminants will react with the metal
over long periods of time. Many coins look better after they are cleaned but it takes
many years of experience before you can consistently know which ones. Sometimes
old cleaning or problems are revealed. Generally it is best to avoid buying expensive
coins if they need cleaning or to send them to a service which has more experience.

Practice on cheap coins and remember if the coin looks cleaned it was done improperly.

Improperly cleaned coins can be "revitalized" by carrying them as a pocket piece.

razorface1027

My uncle, albeit he was from "The old school," thrived on "CLEANING" his coinage with gold rouge or dipping them in Mercury. Moreover, he was NUTZ. DO NOT clean your coins. Let the PROS handle it.

dorkkarl

you should only clean coins if you are a png member! then, you can do the dipsy-doo all you want, & it's ok, because the png endorses dipped coins.

K S