Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Ok, blast me for this question,

Big Treble

Big Treble

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Why should I not use a baby(child's) tooth brush and water to clean coins?

The soft nylon won't(I could not imagine) scratch any silver? So why is this such a no no. I would think using electrolysis where a alligator clip is touching the coin great or risk.
 
If its a common coin and not particularily valuable then you usually are not harming it much by cleaning it. That will however reduce any FUTURE gain in value of that coin.

If it is a valuable coin now , then its almost always more valuable or atleast potentially more valuable in an uncleaned condition. Value is determined by what someone is willing to pay for it , unfortunately most buyers generally dont want to see that a coin has been cleaned.
 
Do not clean or brush a coin that has "collector" value.
However, if its a dug coin and heavily coated with dirt and corrosion....I use water and light brushing all the time with tremendous success....toothbrush and Q-Tips. This applies in instances where there would no other way to identify or date the coin.
 
Gotcha, I just brush with water to remove the mud and dirt. Not trying to scour any patina off. Perhaps I should have guessed that's what people ment.
 
Think just cleaning enough to make a good identification is best. Let the buyer reveal the rest, if they want. You can't replace the crud, once removed. Never know, that crud might also be covering up a deal breaker scratch or flaw... Think most of the coins we dig up, aren't going to fetch top dollar, cleaned or filthy, half to be rare or much needed to fill a slot in a collection, where condition isn't the main concern. A bright and shiny old circulated coin, just doesn't look right, not to mention if its rare, could be fake...
 
Nobody has said it yet (that I noticed), but I think the real danger of
using a brush is NOT that the soft brush will do harm, but that it might
rub little bits of grit and rock against the coin, which would scratch it.

Personally, I think if you are really careful, you can use a soft toothbrush
to get off enough dirt to see some coin details. But it might be safer
to soak it in a liquid that will help any grit and rock to fall off so it
won't cause any scratches.

What should that liquid be? Sorry, I won't get into that debate. It's
almost a religious argument.

--Tom
 
I use Ajax and steel wool before I toss em into the dishwasher. Then I give them a quick tumble before I soak em in hydrochloic acid and run over em with the car.
Thennn and only then is that when you wanna use the baby's toothbrush very lightly with water or you'll mess it up. Works like a charm everytime.
 
Azmodeus said:
I use Ajax and steel wool before I toss em into the dishwasher. Then I give them a quick tumble before I soak em in hydrochloic acid and run over em with the car.
Thennn and only then is that when you wanna use the baby's toothbrush very lightly with water or you'll mess it up. Works like a charm everytime.
Click to expand...

Hahaha sounds like how they test Glocks.
 
Azmodeus said:
I use Ajax and steel wool before I toss em into the dishwasher. Then I give them a quick tumble before I soak em in hydrochloic acid and run over em with the car.
Thennn and only then is that when you wanna use the baby's toothbrush very lightly with water or you'll mess it up. Works like a charm everytime.
Click to expand...

This is where I was screwing up, I was using the wire wheel on my bench grinder and a pair of vice grips to hold the coin, prior to the baby toothbrush. LOL
 
No coin collector shop will give you any value for a coin coming out of the ground. They have too many tiny scratches already. Ebay buyers, and the like, will pay a decent price even if its been a little cleaned. A light tooth brush is okay. The tiny scratches it would have put there are already there.
 
Any silver coin coming from out of the ground is already damaged.
The key is to not promote further ruin.

Like others have mentioned, be very careful with key date coins or items with numismatic value.
 
Makes no difference if they already consider a dug coin damaged. The point is that many also consider cleaning to be further damage. There is no foolproof way to protect collector value of any coin , value is in the eye of those willing to pay for it. There is also no way to guarantee an uncleaned coin is worth less than an uncleaned one , it depends on the interests of the prospective buyer , but once it is cleaned the option and potential is gone forever. But they are your coins , so the choice is up to you.
 
TTTT said:
Nobody has said it yet (that I noticed), but I think the real danger of
using a brush is NOT that the soft brush will do harm, but that it might
rub little bits of grit and rock against the coin, which would scratch it.

Personally, I think if you are really careful, you can use a soft toothbrush
to get off enough dirt to see some coin details. But it might be safer
to soak it in a liquid that will help any grit and rock to fall off so it
won't cause any scratches.

What should that liquid be? Sorry, I won't get into that debate. It's
almost a religious argument.

--Tom
Click to expand...

Exactly Tom,well said. It's not the BRUSH NECESSARLIY,as it is the grit that you're BRUSHING AROUND. Thats on a coin that's pretty nice to begin with,of course.
 
IDXMonster said:
Exactly Tom,well said. It's not the BRUSH NECESSARLIY,as it is the grit that you're BRUSHING AROUND. Thats on a coin that's pretty nice to begin with,of course.
Click to expand...

In theory I would tend to agree, but I wouldn't think the bristles would be strong enough to push an abrasive into the metal. The "give" between the brush, grit and metal I would assume would be the brush.
 
Only thing I worry about is it the red or blue thermometer you stick under your tongue?:lol:
Seriously though. Something real valuable a coin expert looks at under super magnification. Anything that rubs a coin can be bad. So be careful. I think some use an acetone wash. pvc cleaner has a dobber in it and the cleaner is acetone. Try cheap coins first.
I stuck a dug tax token with a bad spot on it in a friends auction. They sell for $1 with free shipping in good condition. Thought I'd get 50 cents. It sold for 15 bucks:shock:
 
The coins we dig, are circulated to begin with, and not exactly pristine. Although, I've seen some amazing silver pictures on here, almost mint fresh, still in the plug... What ever cleaning that's done, most likely isn't going to have a tremendous effect on what you can sell it for, unless it's rare. Think cleaning it down to bright shiny metal, would make all the wear, scratches an flaws stand out more. Doubt cleaning it past removing dirt, is going to improve it's value to a collector, who would likely only be interested in filling a slot in his book, or finding a better (less worn) example.

I bought some jewelry cleaning solution, for a 14k ring I dug, see if I could get the stones looking better, think it did. But, since I had the ultrasonic cleaner, solution, I did a 1944 dime I dug. Came out spotless clean, but I don't think it's got collector value, seems common enough, but it was my first dug silver, and I have to get a crazy offer to part with it. Solution isn't for wheat pennies though... Couple of them came out shiny, most of them got cleaner, but not shiny, solution got dirty. Shouldn't have done those nickles after the pennies...
 
Goat88 said:
No coin collector shop will give you any value for a coin coming out of the ground. They have too many tiny scratches already. Ebay buyers, and the like, will pay a decent price even if its been a little cleaned. A light tooth brush is okay. The tiny scratches it would have put there are already there.
Click to expand...

I gotta say something that's surely been said by someone already..."Coins used in circulation travel, slide around in pockets with other coins, get sorted in cash registers and at banks, AND WE DESTRUCT THEIR VALUE WITH A TOOTHBRUSH!"

Let's get real.
 
Azmodeus said:
I use Ajax and steel wool before I toss em into the dishwasher. Then I give them a quick tumble before I soak em in hydrochloic acid and run over em with the car.
Thennn and only then is that when you wanna use the baby's toothbrush very lightly with water or you'll mess it up. Works like a charm everytime.
Click to expand...

That's funny stuff right there... as is the red or blue thermometer statement by itsaring...lol. I wonder how many got the jist of that statement....:?: :lol:

I dug a pristine 1867 penny a couple of years ago. Took it to two separate dealers to see what it was worth. They both pretty much said the same thing. That it was easily a $100 penny, IF it weren't "environmentally" damaged. You know, that beautiful green patina we all know of in old dug copper. I told him that I liked all my Indian head pennies in that color...lol. Personally, unless it is a key date, I always clean my older coins with dish soap, then light brushing. The only thing I would warn against is that with some coins you can actually lose some of the definition of the coin's features along with the grime and dirt, especially bronze and poorly struck coin designs to begin with, such as a flying eagle penny and fattie Indian heads .. Don't ask me how I know that.... :whistle:
 
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