Cleaning of used coins

[Ewri]

I have kept some coins which are already circulated, some of which are very dirty.

What is the best way to clean dirty circulated coins?

I don't want them to look like new, as I think it's impossible, but I would like to have some cleaner coins.

[svendowney]

I know some friends who use car wax polish to polish heavily circulated coins, and others who use a light acid like anti-calcium for the kitchen or bathroom, or lemon juice or vinegar mixed with a little bit of salt, and then rinse in water, but I choose not to do this because it might harm the metal?

[tabbs]

Right. As for cleaning coins, that is basically a DON'T as you damage the piece. Even if you use instruments and substances that you think won't do any harm, the coin gets damaged.

Of course, if you do not plan to ever sell the coin, you can clean it - I mean, it's yours. Especially if the coin you have in mind is a very common piece that you can easily replace, then fine, go ahead and do it. (But then it would make more sense to replace it with a better preserved one ...) Just keep in mind that, if you want/have to sell a coin, a dealer will almost always give you less for a cleaned coin.

There are exceptions, of course: Ancient coins (Roman, Greek, etc.) that you buy in a lot may have to be cleaned so that you can recognize anything at all. Also, if a coin has PVC on the surface (from having been in an inadequate album), that substance will damage the piece. In this case you could soak the coin in acetone - preferably pure acetone, not the nail polish remover stuff ..

Christian

[androl]

when I get used coins from the big coin box of the coin shop, I wash them with soap so the dirt gets away. I don't think that will do much to them, as they are already circulated anyway. Only shining new coins, they get sometimes a strange surface after using soap and/or water on them.
if you put lemon juice on nearly-new coins, that will make them look shiny again, but they will get dark again very fast afterwards, often in a very uneven way

[Ewri]

thanks very much for your comments.

So it seems that the best thing is to replace the dirty ones