Is it best to clean or not to clean?

steveFL · Feb 23, 2015

I recently found a 1911 V nickel which is in rough condition, well at least the outer surface, although I can see all the stars and other areas under magnification really well. Is there any way to clean this (bring out the detail) without hurting the coin or is it best just to leave it as is? Also, I looked up it's value and as is it's only worth a few dollars at best so could a proper cleaning increase it's value?

I guess if at this point it really doesn't matter I'd kind of like to see it better so what cleaning method would be best, easiest on the coin?

I realize this question has been posted multiple times throughout the forum (I searched) but all the answers/techniques can be overwhelming, thank you.

Oh yeah, a pic of the coin in question, thank you again for your help.

Eugene10 · Feb 23, 2015

I have no experience on cleaning coins, but from researching of various forums I realized that all techniques are harmful for coins. The best way seems to be a microscope and mechanical cleaning.

ic1usn · Feb 23, 2015

Personally I go by how common the coin is and how I'd like it to look. Yours is a "common" coin with little numismatic value, so I'd go for it. I would suggest trying different methods (electrolysis, tumbling, hot peroxide, etc.) on a more recent nickel to see the methods effects.

Chad · Feb 23, 2015

If you ask this question 100 times you'll get 150 different answers lol.

Personally, I clean my coins. Not to the point that they're shiny or new looking. The idea is to remove the dirt and crud without removing the patina. More specifically, YOUR coin is in beautiful condition....tons of detail.

I would say the most effective cleaning method for nickles would be the soap infused SOS pad. Most of the other methods I've tried cause pitting. Keep it under running water while gently scrubbing with an sos pad, or 0000 steel wool. Now, the trick is knowing when to stop scrubbing. I guess it depends on when you are satisfied with the outcome. Practice on some older dug clad nickles that have that red junk on them.

HarveyH48 · Feb 23, 2015

Really tough to guess from pictures. Sometimes that 'crude' you want to clean, is the detail you wish to bring out. Stuff that old and crusted, often look better the way they are. If you decide to go for it, start on the back, since it doesn't seem to show much, any improvement would be a plus, not losing as much if it goes badly. Give you some idea about what to do on the good side.

GabbityGabby · Feb 23, 2015

Eugene10 said:
I have no experience on cleaning coins, but from researching of various forums I realized that all techniques are harmful for coins. The best way seems to be a microscope and mechanical cleaning.

You are right about all techniques being harmful for coins, they either cause microabrasions on the surface (scrubbing, wire pad/brush, etc.) or cause chemical reactions with the metal (acids, dips) which may result in erosion. My coin book, written by Ron Guth, President of the Professional Coin Cleaning Service, recommends no more than running the coin underwater, then patting (not rubbing) it dry with a 100% cotton cloth (other cloth fibers may cause microabrasions).

However, most coins circulating around coin shops aren't dug up from the ground and don't really need cleaned, whereas cleaning could make the details on your coin easier to see. So you need to weigh the pros and cons and decide if you want to clean it or not. If you do, I recommend asking your local coin dealer what he suggests using, in order to at least minimize damage to your coin (there are commercial dips available for this purpose). Using a dip will reduce the risk of "rubbing any detail out."

steveFL · Feb 24, 2015

Eugene10 said:
I have no experience on cleaning coins, but from researching of various forums I realized that all techniques are harmful for coins. The best way seems to be a microscope and mechanical cleaning.

Yeah, you are correct, for the most part never clean, refinish, etc. old items but since it's just for me and not really worth much I was considering it, although, it would be a gentle cleaning but still deciding. Thank you.

ic1usn said:
Personally I go by how common the coin is and how I'd like it to look. Yours is a "common" coin with little numismatic value, so I'd go for it. I would suggest trying different methods (electrolysis, tumbling, hot peroxide, etc.) on a more recent nickel to see the methods effects.

My thoughts too, it's not worth much so was considering it, still don't know. Your suggestion of testing various cleaning methods on another coin is a good place to start. Thank you.

Chad said:
If you ask this question 100 times you'll get 150 different answers lol.

Personally, I clean my coins. Not to the point that they're shiny or new looking. The idea is to remove the dirt and crud without removing the patina. More specifically, YOUR coin is in beautiful condition....tons of detail.

I would say the most effective cleaning method for nickles would be the soap infused SOS pad. Most of the other methods I've tried cause pitting. Keep it under running water while gently scrubbing with an sos pad, or 0000 steel wool. Now, the trick is knowing when to stop scrubbing. I guess it depends on when you are satisfied with the outcome. Practice on some older dug clad nickles that have that red junk on them.

Yeah, it can become overwhelming with all the different (150) methods of cleaning, although I am just looking for a gentle method. The sos and/or 0000 steel wool may produce the results that I am after. I guess as you and others have suggested to practice on similar pieces of clad first. Good idea as I'd hate to take it too far and then would be ruined or in worse shape than when I started. Thank you.

HarveyH48 said:
Really tough to guess from pictures. Sometimes that 'crude' you want to clean, is the detail you wish to bring out. Stuff that old and crusted, often look better the way they are. If you decide to go for it, start on the back, since it doesn't seem to show much, any improvement would be a plus, not losing as much if it goes badly. Give you some idea about what to do on the good side.

Yeah, a tough call. Leave it natural or clean it? I have heard that a gentle cleaning under water then rub with olive oil may help and wouldn't hurt but sure wish it was nice and shiny, however, after 100 years in the ground I guess I better not complain. It's my oldest find, I am thrilled! You also mentioned cleaning the reverse side first, good idea. If I decide to clean it, I think as others have suggested practice first on a similar coin and then when and if ready the reverse would be first. Thank you. I also wonder if it was in the ground reverse side up since it is in worse condition than the obverse? Thank you.

GabbityGabby said:
You are right about all techniques being harmful for coins, they either cause microabrasions on the surface (scrubbing, wire pad/brush, etc.) or cause chemical reactions with the metal (acids, dips) which may result in erosion. My coin book, written by Ron Guth, President of the Professional Coin Cleaning Service, recommends no more than running the coin underwater, then patting (not rubbing) it dry with a 100% cotton cloth (other cloth fibers may cause microabrasions).

However, most coins circulating around coin shops aren't dug up from the ground and don't really need cleaned, whereas cleaning could make the details on your coin easier to see. So you need to weigh the pros and cons and decide if you want to clean it or not. If you do, I recommend asking your local coin dealer what he suggests using, in order to at least minimize damage to your coin (there are commercial dips available for this purpose). Using a dip will reduce the risk of "rubbing any detail out."

You are correct, never clean it but as you said most of the coins were not dug from the ground. Maybe a trip to my local coin shop would be a good starting point then if yes or no I will experiment with the cleaning methods mentioned and do so on a piece of clad with similar corrosion. Thank you.

hikerdude · Feb 24, 2015

Tumbler

If it's not a rare coin, I just tumble it with aquarium rock, Ajax, and water. I think nickels that have been buried for any length of time look ugly. In my opinion, people that think coins look better ugly, are mistaken. Just my opinion.
HH everyone

CoiltoSoil · Feb 24, 2015

I clean common coins, and coins that I can not make out. I'd rather be able to tell what the coin is then have a heavily crudded coin with no idea what it is. It's true it will destroy value but a common dug coin has little value anyway and at that point I'm more concerned how it looks in my display case. As for coppers I find, most are already friend, many have little to no detail, and cleaning is the only way to tell what I even have. If a coins that heavily fried and worn that it's unreadable then some cleaning isn't going to change much. Look at it this way, if you clean it you have a worthless coin that will look fairly nice, and if you don't clean it then you will have a worthless coin that looks bad.

HarveyH48 · Feb 24, 2015

I only clean the older coins enough to identify. Mostly just to remove the dirt. It's rare for any dug coin to be of collector value. I don't know all the key dates, or what is rare. I do know they are only worth, what a buyer is willing to pay. Never know if or when a fairly common date, might be just the coin a collector needed to fill his book. Might not be pretty, but looks much better than an empty slot. Don't think old coins look any better, polished, shiny-new, with all the wear and lost detail.

Anyway, you've got the before pictures. Clean it all you want, make it shine, snap some pictures, compare. Really more of a personal choice, it didn't cost you anything to begin with. Doesn't work out, lesson learned, something to think about, if you find another.

pescadore · Feb 24, 2015

I'll give you my example and lesson learned. I dug a coin at a location where we had found several older silver coins in soccer and baseball fields. The coins in this certain soccer field looked black and you really had to work to get any kind of identifying marks or dates from them. I don't know if the stuff was from a fire or some kind of fertilizer that they used on the field. I found a coin that was really gunked up and I knew it was the size of a dime but didn't know whether it was silver or just crusted up clad so I scrapped on the edge and sure enough it was a silver dime. Well I am an impatient person and I had to know what it was so I got out my pocket knife and scraped the coin enough to see that it was a 1876 seated liberty dime. At that point, I had scratched the coin in a couple of places so when I scraped the back for the mint mark, I discovered it was a CC mint mark. I know the coin is not a key date and not worth a lot of money but it was my oldest US coin found and the only CC mint silver that I recall. I talked to a friend and he told me about using hot peroxide and tinfoil to clean the coin so I didn't scrape it any more and used that method to finish cleaning it. The coin was thin and worn but still had some detail on it and I definitely second guessed my decision to scrape the crud off with my knife. If I had it to do over again, I would have just cleaned it with the peroxide and avoided the scratches but I didn't know how at the time so lesson learned. Most coins we find in the ground have environmental damage and are not worth much but some still hold monetary value. I did find a 1921 D Mercury Dime that I made some pretty good money on. It's personal preference whether you clean the coin or not but from now on if it's silver, I will take more care until I know what it is and whether it's worth anything or not.
Pesc

itsaring! · Feb 24, 2015

Haven't tried it on a V. Tried it on a green Jefferson nickel. Dripped some silver test acid on it in a plastic cup. Then swished it around for one minute. Ran water over it. Came out purty with plenty of detail

steveFL · Feb 24, 2015

hikerdude said:
If it's not a rare coin, I just tumble it with aquarium rock, Ajax, and water. I think nickels that have been buried for any length of time look ugly. In my opinion, people that think coins look better ugly, are mistaken. Just my opinion.
HH everyone

Hi, yeah I understand your point and well taken, although, I may start slow using the more gentle methods on clad as mentioned to see what I think looks best then move on to my coin. Maybe a tumbler is the way that I'll go when all said and done but kind of leaning towards keeping it natural but with more detail if possible, we'll see. Thank you.

steveFL · Feb 24, 2015

CoiltoSoil said:
I clean common coins, and coins that I can not make out. I'd rather be able to tell what the coin is then have a heavily crudded coin with no idea what it is. It's true it will destroy value but a common dug coin has little value anyway and at that point I'm more concerned how it looks in my display case. As for coppers I find, most are already friend, many have little to no detail, and cleaning is the only way to tell what I even have. If a coins that heavily fried and worn that it's unreadable then some cleaning isn't going to change much. Look at it this way, if you clean it you have a worthless coin that will look fairly nice, and if you don't clean it then you will have a worthless coin that looks bad.

Yeah, I understand your point, a coin nice and clean does look better but being a history buff I am not sure that I can go that direction. I'll start off with the more gentle methods mentioned here within and if not happy may take it to the next level. Thank you.

steveFL · Feb 24, 2015

HarveyH48 said:
I only clean the older coins enough to identify. Mostly just to remove the dirt. It's rare for any dug coin to be of collector value. I don't know all the key dates, or what is rare. I do know they are only worth, what a buyer is willing to pay. Never know if or when a fairly common date, might be just the coin a collector needed to fill his book. Might not be pretty, but looks much better than an empty slot. Don't think old coins look any better, polished, shiny-new, with all the wear and lost detail.

Anyway, you've got the before pictures. Clean it all you want, make it shine, snap some pictures, compare. Really more of a personal choice, it didn't cost you anything to begin with. Doesn't work out, lesson learned, something to think about, if you find another.

Yeah so far just removing the dirt under warm water is all that I have done. I will clean it more but going to start slow and gentle, once happy I will stop and guessing that it will be looking somewhat natural but with a little more detail. Thank you.

steveFL · Feb 24, 2015

pescadore said:
I'll give you my example and lesson learned. I dug a coin at a location where we had found several older silver coins in soccer and baseball fields. The coins in this certain soccer field looked black and you really had to work to get any kind of identifying marks or dates from them. I don't know if the stuff was from a fire or some kind of fertilizer that they used on the field. I found a coin that was really gunked up and I knew it was the size of a dime but didn't know whether it was silver or just crusted up clad so I scrapped on the edge and sure enough it was a silver dime. Well I am an impatient person and I had to know what it was so I got out my pocket knife and scraped the coin enough to see that it was a 1876 seated liberty dime. At that point, I had scratched the coin in a couple of places so when I scraped the back for the mint mark, I discovered it was a CC mint mark. I know the coin is not a key date and not worth a lot of money but it was my oldest US coin found and the only CC mint silver that I recall. I talked to a friend and he told me about using hot peroxide and tinfoil to clean the coin so I didn't scrape it any more and used that method to finish cleaning it. The coin was thin and worn but still had some detail on it and I definitely second guessed my decision to scrape the crud off with my knife. If I had it to do over again, I would have just cleaned it with the peroxide and avoided the scratches but I didn't know how at the time so lesson learned. Most coins we find in the ground have environmental damage and are not worth much but some still hold monetary value. I did find a 1921 D Mercury Dime that I made some pretty good money on. It's personal preference whether you clean the coin or not but from now on if it's silver, I will take more care until I know what it is and whether it's worth anything or not.
Pesc

Wow, that would hurt but guess as you mentioned lesson learned, the hard way. Since it's not worth much I do plan on cleaning it but going to take it easy. Better to start off slow as there is no turning back if taken too far. Thank you.

steveFL · Feb 24, 2015

itsaring! said:
Haven't tried it on a V. Tried it on a green Jefferson nickel. Dripped some silver test acid on it in a plastic cup. Then swished it around for one minute. Ran water over it. Came out purty with plenty of detail

Hmmm, this is a new cleaning process to me, maybe a few test runs on clad of similar wear/corrosion would be a good starting point. Thank you.

Dirt Hopper · Feb 25, 2015

Hey Quarter, how do u clean ur quarters

Jamflicker · Mar 4, 2015

I clean all my old nickels with an SOS pad and they come out great. Look at my albums for the buffalo's and V's and you will see the results. The coin is not worth anything in that condition so might as well make it look good.

Is it best to clean or not to clean?

steveFL

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Eugene10

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ic1usn

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Chad

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GabbityGabby

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steveFL

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CoiltoSoil

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pescadore

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itsaring!

24K Larry

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