Very Expensive Lesson In Coin Cleaning

Klaatu · Jan 1, 2006

Recently a contractor placing fill dirt found an 1817 Capped Bust half dollar in the soil and discovered (thanks to his son and a Red Book) that the coin was a rare 1817/4 half dollar. Only 7 examples of this overdate had been known prior to his discovery. He cleaned the coin (at the suggestion of a questionable coin dealer) with Tarnex (a very harsh tarnish remover). His coin may have been one of the finest of the 8 now known had he not destroyed the coin's surfaces with that harsh cleaner.

How does cleaning a coin harm it? Think about how brass cleaner or tarnish remover works - it removes the top layer of metal to expose the untarnished metal below. That is fine if you are cleaning a silver fork or a doorknob because there is little or no fine detail to be concerned about - you just want the fork or doorknob to shine. But with a coin the surface details are everything; remove the top layer of metal and say goodbye to some of Liberty's hair detail or the eagle's feather details. Remember that when you sell a valuable coin it will be examined under magnification and damage caused by cleaning will be readily apparent to a knowledgeable buyer. So, it is fine to polish a fork or a doorknob but not a valuable coin.

If the guy that found the 1817/4 half had taken the coin to a professional to have it "conserved" who knows what it may be worth. By using a harsh cleaner he may have turned a $350,000 coin into a $150,000 or $200,000 coin. It is just as easy to change a dug 1916-D Mercury Dime from a $4,400 coin to a $1,500 coin. That is a very expensive lesson.

Think before you clean.

Mudslide · Jan 1, 2006

$:-\$ Thank you for the reminder, Klaatu. Sometimes the temptation to clean stuff can be hard to resist. Happy New Year!

JakePhelps · Jan 1, 2006

I don't even seee why people have the urge to clean coins

It makes them look worst...

civilman1 · Jan 1, 2006

Advice...don't alway's follow it until you know...thanx for the post!HH and Happy New Year

Huntin' 59er · Jan 1, 2006

Yes, a valuable lesson that we can all learn from.

Huntin' 59er

Snee · Jan 1, 2006

That would be terrible...not finding the coin worth hundreds of thousands of dollars...but the bad cleaning part!

bookfisher · Jan 1, 2006

There are several pages on the net about the found half dollar, and no where does it mention the coined was cleaned. If you follow this link, the article states that the coin has some slight corrosion.

http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cach...ge+contractor+1817+half+dollar&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Klaatu · Jan 1, 2006

Bookfisher,

My source is the October 24, 2005 issue of Coin World cited in the article you reference. Let me quote from Coin World's article ...

"He (a coin dealer) threw it on the counter and said it was fake, Williams (the finder of the coin) recounted. Both he and Cullinan (his son) started pointing out features, but the dealer pointed instead to a small bright spot showing through the mostly black surfaces. The dealer said the shiny spot was the only place where silver plating remained, and the piece was made of lead."

...

"On arriving home, though, "We were sure he was wrong." The dealer had said if the blackness would come off, he would be proved wrong,
Williams now applied Tarnex, a tarnish remover, with a soft cloth.
"In about three minutes, the black was off. My son protested the whole way," objecting to the means his father was using to clean the coin.
Cullinan had thought the coin would grade Extremely Fine 45.
"Now he said some eyebrow detail was gone and I had made a mistake."
Williams was satisfied that he could now make out details better. The 4 under the 7 suddenly stood out."

I did not make it up. Find that issue of Coin World and read it for yourself.

bookfisher · Jan 2, 2006

Sorry; though I never thought you made it up.

Southcacalaky · Jan 2, 2006

Great words of wisdom to live by, HH Art...

SaintSea · Jan 2, 2006

Tarnex! I did exactly the same thing - with similar results. My very first coin find - and I'm not kidding - was a Mercury Dime at New Smyrna Beach, FL... just about a year ago now. It was very dark and I "assumed" (and that old saying certain rang true in my case!) that Tarnex would do a lovely job of restoring the coin to its once brilliant lustre. What I have to remember my very first find by is a dull, worn, unhappy Mercury lady. But, she's mine nonetheless. Tarnex? Bah!
Ruth

ZumbroKid · Jan 2, 2006

Sounds like that coin dealer was trying to get it for next to nothing. I had almost similar experience with the Dahlonega coin i found.

lionhrt9 · Jan 2, 2006

Great post and advise for a novice such as myself. Although that was like the first thing I learned about collecting. My bad habit is scratching at the date with my finger nail

.

I think it's neat that his son thought it was the wrong thing to do, and he turned out to be right!

Does anyone know what price the coin when for in the end? Or maybe they didn't even sell it after that.

trk5capt · Jan 2, 2006

Very Good Advice. trk5capt...

rjnail · Jan 2, 2006

live and learn the hard way, sounds like he was in too big of rush to sell it,

Gabbit · Jan 2, 2006

very expensive lesson -- although I have cleaned 1 of my coins (wasn't concerned about value just looks).? ?Never would I think about attempting to clean a valuable coin.? I use a product called liquid lustre to clean my jewlery though -- car wax.? Now your thinking yea right -- car wax to clean jewlery.? You have to rub for a while, but you will see just the tarnish comming off -- it does not scratch.? When your done it will look as good or better than new. ? ?One of these days I will do a before and after pic.? ?http://www.liquidlustre.com/

Joe (Memphis) · Jan 2, 2006

OK, I broke my habit of rubbing coins when dug to see the date, but I still bring them home and toss them into the ultrasound tank. The pennies come out dull and pitted due to all loose material being removed from the coroded surface. Am I overcleaning? Other clad coins come out just fine, but some of the pennies come out looking pretty rough depending on their condition going into the tank. I am not talking about Zn pennies, just "real" pennies

honeycat1007 · Jan 2, 2006

I'm a member of many Roman Coin boards, and this topic comes up every so othen and always sparks a debate about what is proper for cleaning and whats not. I have not 2 cents to add as I have been on the recieving end of a virtual a$$ chewing..
however....Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. If your looking for just the value of a coin, and are most concerned what a coin can bring you at the market. Then yes definately you should never strip a coin. if you care about the visual beauty of the coin some are beyond light touchup and require heavy and aggressive cleaning methods.
I myself have used a whole range of cleaning techniques from distilled water and a toothbrush to dropping 2000 year old coins in acidbaths.. my conclusion...there is no magic arrow to clean, some require one method while other will benefit from another... I would have to agree with this post that using tarnish remover wasnt the best first choice. for silver I like to use dishsaop and water with about a teaspoon of lemon juice seems to work well with 2000 year old coins.

Tommi · Jan 3, 2006

Ouch! expensive lession indeed!

I made a mistake of cleaning my favourite coin a little to much, ended up staining it

What began with a simple low charge electrolysis bath moved to a lemon juice bath, then to a sloppy electrolysis bath when I didn't clean out the tank properly and ended up staining my coin :'(

Then I moved onto mag polish, and move electrolysis.... and it still looks bad

When cleaning a coin, don't over do it.

P.S: Now I play with current currency coins as I know their value

Michigan Badger · Jan 3, 2006

Great topic.

I've cleaned both ancient and shipwreck coins as a hobby for about 10 years now. I've even had the pleasure of cleaning coins from some major Spanish galleons. My favorite coins to clean are the 8 reales? (pieces of eight). They're easy to clean and always come out looking great. But the 17th century shipwreck reales are usually course and pitted to begin with. All the true mint lustre was long ago washed and eaten away. This is part of what makes them easier to clean.

Silver coins with fairly smooth surfaces are far more of a cleaning challenge. What many people don't know is that even silver has a patina. That darkening is called "toning" and it's money.

Copper is always a pain in the kazoo. Very badly corroded (but valuable) coppers are generally hand cleaned by true pros (not cheap). They purposely leave a nice smooth patina on the coin. Dug coppers with green, blue, etc., are wonderful and if scarce can bring mega bucks.

I never ever use harsh acids when cleaning any coin. Those store bought bottled chemical cleaners are nasty crap. Even if they make an item brilliant these often turn yellowish and dull in time.

Many today use electrolysis. This is fine if the coin is basically junk to begin with. True professionals use electrolysis very sparingly. They treat only the area of the coin needing attention. They almost never dump a whole coin into the bath and simply let it fry away. Electrolysis can do more damage then acids.

When they cleaned the Atocha treasure they used extreme electrolysis and that was a terrible mistake. Good night!!! they even turned those pieces of eight in a rock tumbler with steel shot! That was really bad. The cost for this blunder was the permanent loss of a lot of coin detail. I've heard that now they know better and that process has been abandoned.

Tiny scratches on a coin can rob it of half it's value. Every time you rub the dirt off a freshly dug coin you scratch it. It's just like taking sandpaper to your coins. All dug coins should be taken home and placed in distilled water for several hours and then very gentilly rinsed and then (if needed) placed back into the water to soak. Distilled water soak is the safest and easiest way to remove caked on surface dirt.

SUM: For dug coins, as soon as the date and type are seen, check to make sure it's a common coin. If it's rare and worth hundreds or thousands of dollars you can continue the water soaks but use nothing stronger and never brush a rare coin. You can place it into a plastic (not steel) food strainer and gentilly pour distilled water over it to help remove packed-on dirt. When the basic features can be seen let it air dry and look for some legitimate grading service and possibly a professional cleaner recommended by experts, etc.