Cleaning your 40%ers

[golden silver]

Hey y'all I know it is usually not a good idea to clean coins but I figure on circulated 40%ers that you are keeping just for silver content it would not cause any harm. What do you guys use to clean them? Someone posted a while ago some wipes that they got at Walmart I think. Anyone remember what they were called and how much they cost. How many come in a package? Thanks

Golden Silver

 

[myprecious]

set the sonic cleaner and forgettaboutit.

 

[jim4silver]

When I first got into silver (buying 90%ers way before I became a CRHer), I would bring them home and clean them by soaking them in soapy water to get off the grime.

Fast forward to now, I could care less about the condition of my junk silver, especially the 40%ers.

If I had a nice coin I wanted to put into the "collection" and it had a bit of grime I would carefully remove it. But the junk coins that go into the ziplock bags that will one day be sold or traded get no special treatment at all. Seems like a waste of time to me at this point in life.

Jim

 

[golden silver]

Yeah I hear ya Jim but I am thinking about something to do on a rainy day just to make them shine. Who knows, perhaps a shiney lot would sell better on ebay than a dirty grimey lot. Visual appeal is very important to some. Just a thought.

Golden silver

 

[Diver_Down]

Yeah I hear ya Jim but I am thinking about something to do on a rainy day just to make them shine. Who knows, perhaps a shiney lot would sell better on ebay than a dirty grimey lot. Visual appeal is very important to some. Just a thought.

Golden silver

They do sell better. I do this and point out in the description that these just aren't your average run of the mill junk silver. I only bother cleaning the ones that are beat to heck. I use vinegar diluted with water. The vinegar needs to be strong enough to smell. Let them soak for a bit (half hour to an hour) and then rinse them with a mild dish detergent using my fingers only. No brushes. They will come out beaming white.

 

[Diver_Down]

Yeah I hear ya Jim but I am thinking about something to do on a rainy day just to make them shine. Who knows, perhaps a shiney lot would sell better on ebay than a dirty grimey lot. Visual appeal is very important to some. Just a thought.

Golden silver

They do sell better. I do this and point out in the description that these just aren't your average run of the mill junk silver. I only bother cleaning the ones that are beat to heck. I use vinegar diluted with water. The vinegar needs to be strong enough to smell. Let them soak for a bit (half hour to an hour) and then rinse them with a mild dish detergent using my fingers only. No brushes. They will come out beaming white.

I only bother cleaning the ones that are NOT beat to heck. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[d2arcing]

how about a silver jewelry cloth?

 

[Diver_Down]

how about a silver jewelry cloth?

The silver jewelry cloth leaves "too much" of a shine and looks obvious. The vinegar/dish detergent leaves them bright white without the ridiculous shine. Also, rubbing each coin with a cloth takes some knuckle grease. Rubbing with the cloth will leave abrasion marks and leaves the crud around the dates, letters, etc. The vinegar breaks up the crud and the dish detergent along with the flesh of your fingers cleans out the crud without leaving abrasion marks.

 

[mick56]

I've thrown some in the tumbler with the clad. They come out real nice.

 

[Darth Walker]

Cleaning the circulated 90% and 40% circulated will not affect the value.

I clean and sell all the time 90% and 40% circulated kenns and it is the same price.

I use ajax

DW

 

[fistfulladirt]

I've tried various cleaning methods. Chemical dips work. Now I just use a small amount of baking soda paste between the fingertips on a common date silver coin. Works great! ffd

 

[wh]

In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with cleaning your 40% halves. If you are going to sell them eventually. They will sell for more if they look good. One of our local coin shop guys told me the best way to clean them is as follows:

First, buy a container of the liquid that your local coin shop sells to dip silver in.

To clean your 40% ers.
spread out an old towel by your sink
open the silver cleaning liquid and place on the towel. Do not get this on your wife's kitchen counter!
prepare two small bowls, place baking soda in one and dish detergent in the other.

Here is the process.

1. dip the coin in the silver dipping fluid for a count of 5 seconds
2. then dip the coin in the baking soda
3.using your thumbs start rubbing the coin, take a small amount of dish detergent and place it on the coin...continue to rub.
4. now run the coin under warm running water until the mixture comes off.
5. after the coin has been washed, make sure that you dry it compelely.

This will clean 40% coins better than any other method that I have used.

 

[Troy Ounce]

hey GS how are u . I have not posted lately due to uncle sam (he is watching) but try cigarette ash and a drop of water and rub it is very cheap.

 

[jim4silver]

Cleaning the circulated 90% and 40% circulated will not affect the value.

I clean and sell all the time 90% and 40% circulated kenns and it is the same price.

I use ajax

DW

This has been my experience as well. Any coin dealer who is buying them as junk silver will not care how they look. If the coins look like they have been buried for 50 years and have green/black coating, that might matter. But regular toning and grime shouldn't. When I have sold 40%ers they didn't even look at them, just ran them thru a coin counter at the store.

Anyone buying the coins due to numismatic value and seeking AU/BU will not want cleaned coins (that is if they know what they are looking for). The main coin grading services will refuse to grade a cleaned coin (that is what I have read and been told, but I never sent anything to them).

I could see though if you are selling to somebody off craigslist or at a flea market they might be more impressed with a shiny coin vs. an old toned one.

Now as far as silver bullion rounds/bars, I really do believe that some coin dealers will pay more if you walk in with shiny, new-looking rounds/bars.

Jim

 

[fistfulladirt]

As far as cleaned coins go, dug coins cleaned sell for thousands of dollars. Just follow posts on Tnet. My buddy has sold lots of key date and other coins that he has dug, for hundreds of dollars. ffd

 

[jim4silver]

As far as cleaned coins go, dug coins cleaned sell for thousands of dollars. Just follow posts on Tnet. My buddy has sold lots of key date and other coins that he has dug, for hundreds of dollars. ffd

The term "cleaned" means different things do different people. Simply soaking coins in soapy water or maybe even rubbing alcohol to remove dirt and debris is not damaging (although I would still not do it if I had a high relief double eagle or something worth thousands of dollars). I would not refer to this process as "cleaning" as far as coins go.

Usually the term cleaning means dipping (in a coin acid dip) or using wipes, which will remove the original mint luster (especially the wipes) and forever change the coin. While the coin will still have its gold or silver content, the actual numismatic value will be reduced or completely eliminated. Some expert coin dealers may be able to very lightly dip a gold coin before they send it off and it comes back graded, but there is a very fine line for this.

If a coin is rare enough it can still possibly be sold for a good amount because it is so rare even if it was improperly cleaned. But as far as average old US gold coins and silver, coins that a dealer would call "improperly cleaned" will not get nearly as much value as one that has not been cleaned.

Many would-be buyers think a shiny coin (gold or silver) automatically means AU or BU and don't know any better. I thought the same thing when I first got into gold/silver. Perhaps these types of buyers will still pay top dollar for a "cleaned" coin.

Jim

 

[supn9]

Just some cold or warm water. Maybe some soap. And thats all for me

My main focus is to just get some of the dirt out that is usually seen on finger tips when going through coin rolls.