Now, let’s see what can be done to the metal money that is allowed to be cleaned How to Clean Old Coins. At that point, remember that not all the aged metal money must be cleaned! Nobody would like to cause damage to some precious and rare two hundred years old penny, right? Especially if it will cut its price twice as lower. If patina is washed away, it can even reduce the coin’s price! Professional collectors appreciate that touch of antiquity, that is why they normally leave the metal money as it is, dull and uncleaned. Aged metal money tends to form a patina, that dusk layer of tarnish that shows the item’s age and proves its value. We bet most of you would say that one has to clean coins, nevertheless, everything is not so easy.Ĭleaning coins, especially those that might be valuable for collecting, is a tricky thing. Sometimes it happens that we find an old dusk coin somewhere in the attic or in a box with the useless stuff kept in the mezzanine for years.Īnd now what?! It is so dark, patined with dust and grime, that it is nearly impossible to identify it! Should You Clean Old Coins At All?Įveryone who is curious about numismatics or is a professional collector himself asks this question. We will teach you how to clean old coins without devaluing them. The same applies to the patina on ancient coins, which in some cases can actually contribute to a coin’s value.Those who collect coins, no matter whether they are amateurs or professional numismatics, often face the necessity to have their metal money look proper to join the collection. Even if you successfully remove the corrosion, there is usually permanent damage underneath, leaving you with a near worthless coin. Generally speaking though, trying to restore badly corroded coins is a waste of time. The oil won’t damage the coin further, but it will eventually dissolve the crust. Heavily encrusted coins can be soaked for several months in olive oil. Always seek professional help and advice concerning these valuable coins.Īfter using solvents, it’s important to rinse the coins with distilled water, and then either allow them to air dry, or pat them dry. Fingernail polish remover contains acetone, but it has other chemicals that may cause damage to upper grade coins.Īlso this warning: There is no safe method available to clean your upper grade uncirculated or proof coins or copper alloy coins. Acetone is another commonly used solvent, but there is a fire hazard that you should be aware of when using it as a coin cleaning material. Use distilled water, and rinse with distilled water. Ancient coins, or gold and silver coins will lose collector’s value, and precious metal content through use of such cleaners.Ī weak soap (not detergent) solution in distilled water will remove dirt and grease from an encrusted coin without damaging it, even if the coin is one of those grimy specimens found at the beach.Ĭity tap water has chlorine in it, which will discolor the coin. Even a modern clad coin cleaned with one of these products will lose value. Avoid such coin cleaning products at all costs. They remove some of the surface metal in the process of cleaning a coin. The metal cleaners you see offered for sale on TV and elsewhere all are acid-based cleaners. The result, after he was done cleaning the silver coins, the only value left was the silver content, less than an ounce in each coin. Every coin had been scrubbed with a harsh abrasive, every coin he bought got the same treatment, despite warnings from friends and dealers he did business with. One such collector had thousands of silver dollars. Some collectors insist on cleaning their coins. Unless you are an experienced specialist, the answer to “how do I clean my coins?” is, quite simply, “don’t clean them.” The typical response from people who don’t take advice kindly is “I’ll do as I please with my coins and you can go jump in the lake!” Have a nice swim. An expert can, in some cases, improve the value of an old coin by cleaning, but for the average collector the risk of damage is too great, as almost anything you do is going to cut the value. Non-destructive cleaning uses solvents that are harmless to the coin’s metal, whether that coin be silver, gold, or modern clad composition.ĭestructive coin cleaning will reduce the collector value as much as 50 percent or even more. There are two types of cleaning for coins, often confused with each other.ĭestructive cleaning uses abrasives or acids to clean (and alter) the coin surfaces. This is a good place to start, “Don’t clean your coins.” If you don’t learn anything else from this section, this rule should be it.
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