Coin collection debate: should you clean old silver or leave it alone?

I got a 1943 Mercury dime from an estate sale in Cleveland last month. One side says cleaning ruins the value and patina forever. The other says a gentle acetone bath just removes dirt and is fine. What do you all do with crusty old coins that have gunk on them?

3 comments

3 Comments

wendyg4324d ago

Take a close look at that Merc under a 10x loupe first @jennifer204 - what you think is dirt might be die polish lines or luster breaks. I've seen people ruin AU details by scrubbing off the "gunk" that was actually original skin protecting the surface. The real issue nobody's talking about is how the coin was stored before you got it. If that crusty stuff is PVC damage from an old flip, then yeah you gotta remove it or it'll eat the metal slowly over time. But if it's just environmental toning from a bank roll or an old wooden cabinet, leave it alone and put it in a Saflip immediately. Acetone baths are fine for removing organic crud like tape residue or stickers, but they won't touch sulfide toning and can actually spread it around if you don't use distilled water for the final rinse.

lily7024d ago

Preach, Jennifer. Ruined a perfectly nice Barber quarter years back thinking I was "cleaning" it. Took off what I thought was grime and it came out looking all dull and lifeless. Never again. Acetone bath if it's got tape goo or something actively hurting it, otherwise into a flip it goes.

jennifer20424d ago

Leave the damn coin alone unless it's got something sticky or moldy on it. That "gunk" people want to scrub off is often just toning that adds character and can actually make the coin more interesting to collectors. Unless you're planning to melt it down for silver, you're probably better off just putting it in a holder and moving on.