This is a risky process which requires an experienced eye, a delicate touch, a good sense of timing, and an element of luck. If you're lucky, the coin will look a lot better than before, and maybe even close to uncirculated. That will remove the grit and most of the tarnish. Follow the instructions on the jar, and be sure to rinse it in distilled water or pure alcohol when finished with the dip. If the coin appears to be in mint condition that is, has Mint sheen under the grit or shows luster around the rim and is not an ordinary junk silver coin, use a dip such as JewelLuster. It is still worth only the silver content, known as "junk" silver. If it is a common silver coin (1964 and earlier) and shows signs of wear, use whatever silver cleaning compound you have at home and you will get a nice, shiny coin. If a coin is caked with dirt, grease and such when found in the ground or in a pile of nails or household items, the cleaning procedure is as follows.įirst, determine if the coin has some numismatic value. When, then, is it OK to clean a coin, and how is it to be done properly? Their coin experts have over 100 years of collective experience in the precious metals industry and will provide you with friendly, knowledgeable advice on the value of your old coins and options for selling or diversifying your investment portfolio with them.Leaning a coin, especially a coin of some numismatic value, is a bad idea for 99.9 percent of those who plan to do it. If you think that you have an old coin worth more than its face value, or if you have any collection at all, consult the professionals at Scottsdale Bullion & Coin. The older, rarer, and more valuable the coin is, the more expertise is required to handle it properly and to discern its value. Determining Your Old Coins’ Worthĭetermining old coin value is a science, and must be done by professional coin advisors. If they are old, have “toning” (numismatic term for tarnish), or look like they need a clean, they could be valuable and cleaning will destroy a substantial part of that value. Given these risks, you should absolutely not clean old coins. In this video by PCGS Director of Education Mike Sherman, he discusses how cleaning is one of the factors that often prevents a coin from qualifying for grading. Cleaning is a factor in coins not qualifying for grading.Polishing or rubbing coins can cause unnatural shine or other damage, also reducing the value of your coins.They can remove some of the original finish or tone and even cause scratching, so they are viewed as a major negative in the world of numismatics. These solutions use acids or abrasives to clean the metal and this will seriously reduce the value of the coin. Metal cleaners or coin cleaning solutions advertised on televisions damage coins.3 There are a few problems with cleaning old coins: In fact, with the highest grade coins, the experts recommended that you wear lint-free cotton gloves to handle them. They will even go so far as to tell you not to handle them except by holding them along their edges, and even then, with extreme care. In general, numismatists will tell you that cleaning coins is a bad idea. Learn How to Avoid Costly Rookie Mistakes & Invest in Gold Like a Pro! Get Free Gold Investor Guide Reasons Not to Clean Old Coins William Sheldon in 1949, which ranks coins from Poor or P-1 all the way up to Mint State Basal or MS-70. These companies use a 70-point coin grading scale originally developed by Dr. There are two grading services that handle the majority of grading in the United States, Professional Coin Grading Services (PCGS) and the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation(NGC). Grading is one of the biggest factors in determining the value of a numismatic coin. For example, a rare 1880 Coiled Hair Stella sold for an astounding $2,574,000 at auction in 2013. When a coin is exceptional in regard to one or more of these factors, it can prove quite valuable on the numismatic market. The value of numismatic coins is determined by four key factors: Merriam Webster defines numismatics as “the study or collection of coins, tokens, and paper money.” 2 Numismatic coins are collectors’ items, and typically command a higher value than the face value of the coins. Coin collecting is a practice as old as money, and has been referred to as “the hobby of kings.” 1 Have you had a coin collection for decades, or did you just inherit one from a relative? Do the coins look tarnished and dirty? Before you start scrubbing, you might want to consult a coin expert because the coins could have numismatic value that cleaning will ruin.
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