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Do YOU Clean you 90% silver coins ?

GoldloverGoldlover Posts: 14 ✭✭
in Precious Metals
I bought some 90% last week and I recieved it yesterday. All in all it was pretty nice, but there were 2 Franklin halfs that were dirty as hell. I actually thought it was toning on one as it looked like a natural color change, yet it was very dark and very ugly. So I soaked them for a while in some soap and Comet then I drained the water, then put some Comet directly on the Franklin halves, and scrubbed very hard and what do you know. The 1 Franklin that was very dark comes out looking BU, beautiful, shiny, looks like an MS 63. The other got much cleaner too, but it had some wear so I wasnt as pleased with it.

I realize this doesnt make the coins any more valuable, still just worth 19.5X ( thats what I paid ) or whatever, but it would definitley make them easier to sell, and I just like how much nicer it looks.

So I was wondering, the rule is that you arent supposed to clean your coins, but does that just hold for numastic coins, or 90% as well ? And also, putting something like Comet on a coin, is that considered cleaning the coin ? Comet is just like soap so its not like a chemical thats going to damage coin surface. I dont know if people here routinely clean their 90%, but I think I will be from now on. I mean what else, thats been who knows where, would we bring into our homes and not clean.

Comments

  • tydyetydye Posts: 3,894 ✭✭✭
    A certain song by Styx comes to mind

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,111 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Why bother if they're just so much bullion?

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • GoldloverGoldlover Posts: 14 ✭✭
    yeah but i didnt like the idea of bringing so much dirt into my house. I dont know wtf that was, but it was pretty nasty looking, plus I like the way it looks now much better. Very nice and shiny. Maybe its just me, but that was a 1957 and who knows where that has been in 55 years, and who knows what that was that was on it.
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,111 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Soak them in some hot water with some detergent. Should get any dirt off. Or, you could send them to NCS.image

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • OverdateOverdate Posts: 7,007 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Uncirculated 90% silver doesn't cost much more, looks nicer and avoids the contamination problem.

    The downside is that you won't have much luck searching for scarce dates! image

    My Adolph A. Weinman signature :)

  • secondrepublicsecondrepublic Posts: 2,619 ✭✭✭
    I wouldn't bother unless there was something really gross on the coin. Once you clean it, it's going to be thrown back with a bunch of other circulated coins, most of which are going to have some handling or light dirt/grime on them. The other point is that some 90% coins may retain numismatic value (a good hedge if silver falls), so I wouldn't be too eager to start cleaning coins. A Franklin in MS63 might fall into the category of numismatic depending on the date/MM.
    "Men who had never shown any ability to make or increase fortunes for themselves abounded in brilliant plans for creating and increasing wealth for the country at large." Fiat Money Inflation in France, Andrew Dickson White (1912)
  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,847 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I brush my dog's teeth but I do not clean my silver. MJ
    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • AUandAGAUandAG Posts: 24,760 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Let's just hope your 90% coins never become worth more than melt. If so, then you will feel the pain
    for the cleaning. As long as they stay as bullion and you disclose that they have been cleaned, when
    you sell, you will be fine.
    Comet and scrubbing is cleaning. What else could you call it?

    bobimage
    Registry: CC lowballs (boblindstrom), bobinvegas1989@yahoo.com
  • FullCameoFullCameo Posts: 492


    << <i>I brush my dog's teeth but I do not clean my silver. MJ >>



    That could be a #1 hit in Nashville someday.
  • TwinturboTwinturbo Posts: 493
    I wouldnt recomend it.
    I recebtly purchased about $2075 FV in 90%. almost all the coins were cleaned and scrubbed hard.
    Shame since there was 17 1927-S standing libs. Most higher grade if they werent cleaned to death.
    The guy commented that at the time they had no premium so no loss, he definitely regrets it now.
  • mkman123mkman123 Posts: 6,849 ✭✭✭✭
    Nope, I just leave them be.
    Successful Buying and Selling transactions with:

    Many members on this forum that now it cannot fit in my signature. Please ask for entire list.
  • BaleyBaley Posts: 22,660 ✭✭✭✭✭
    with 90% near spot, a cleaned coin is better than a nasty sticky coin. IMO a cleaned coin is also better than a fair/AG slick.

    Best of all unworn and natural surfaces but 90% near melt, you should expect a variety of condition including the occasional wierd coin or cull

    Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry

  • 66Tbird66Tbird Posts: 2,858 ✭✭✭
    I just received the junk silver my grandma put away in Mylar pages back who knows when' and of course it was green by now. I let them sit in alcohol over night and checked each for anything special before I rinsed them. Skin peeled off my fingers four days later. image
    Need something designed and 3D printed?
  • JustacommemanJustacommeman Posts: 22,847 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I brush my dog's teeth but I do not clean my silver. MJ >>



    That could be a #1 hit in Nashville someday. >>



    image
    Walker Proof Digital Album
    Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
  • 1jester1jester Posts: 8,637 ✭✭✭


    << <i>I just received the junk silver my grandma put away in Mylar pages back who knows when' and of course it was green by now. I let them sit in alcohol over night and checked each for anything special before I rinsed them. Skin peeled off my fingers four days later. image >>



    Mylar is inert. Surely you mean PVC? PVC is a coin-killer and everybody who uses it ought to be brought up on charges of crimes against humanity (not to mention coins).

    imageimageimage
    .....GOD
    image

    "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9

    "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5

    "For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,111 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I just received the junk silver my grandma put away in Mylar pages back who knows when' and of course it was green by now. I let them sit in alcohol over night and checked each for anything special before I rinsed them. Skin peeled off my fingers four days later. image >>



    Acetone does a quicker and better job of removing green PVC slime than alcohol. At least that has been my experience.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • pursuitoflibertypursuitofliberty Posts: 6,910 ✭✭✭✭✭
    So I soaked them for a while in some soap and Comet then I drained the water, then put some Comet directly on the Franklin halves, and scrubbed very hard and what do you know. The 1 Franklin that was very dark comes out looking BU, beautiful, shiny, looks like an MS 63.

    I read this again today and all I can say, is even for 90% ... oh brother! image



    “We are only their care-takers,” he posed, “if we take good care of them, then centuries from now they may still be here … ”

    Todd - BHNC #242
  • DorkGirlDorkGirl Posts: 9,994 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Soak them in some hot water with some detergent. >>



    Then acetone or alcohol.
    Becky
  • 57loaded57loaded Posts: 4,967 ✭✭✭


    << <i>A certain song by Styx comes to mind >>



    more than a few come to mind............image
  • konsolekonsole Posts: 788 ✭✭✭
    Doesnt comet have some grittiness to it?

    Like others have said, acetone is an excellent way of removing alot of the gunk thats built up on 90% coins from years of circulation while not making the coins look "cleaned". You can use acetone for great results on all 90% coins. The only 90% coins that I would use a more aggressive method is when the gunk on the coin is pretty heavily caked on and very distracting. In this case start with the least aggressive method and work your way up to whatever works. Try to avoid using any chemicals that attack the metal or remove any of the metal because you dont want to alter the coins surface, you just want to break the bond between the gunk and the surface of the coin. Common date 90% coins are valued at melt value in a wide range of grades but its always best to preserve the metal surface of the coin as much as possible.
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