When To Clean

[miserman]

While watching videos from some of the well known detecting channels, some of them clean the dug coins and buttons as soon as they come out of the ground. Others comment they want to let them dry a few minutes before doing any cleaning. Which method is the best? Is it strictly personal preference or is there proven evidence that one is better than another? Thanks for looking.

 

[Jeff H]

It doesn't matter if there is proven evidence or not......everyone thinks their way is the best way. For me, I don't clean anything in the field. My favorite cleaning method is to clean the object as little as possible...especially coppers.

 

[ToddsPoint]

I think it depends on the coin. The majority of coins that come out of the ground have some “environmental damage”. Most collectors would pass on a coin like that. However, the exception comes when the coin is extremely rare. You’ll definitely get more $ if you don’t clean it. Even the grading companies will put a dug coin in a slab if it’s really rare.