How To Clean Coins

HOW TO CLEAN YOUR COINS.

I get this question every week. Someone wants to know, should I clean my coins, should clean or polish my gold and silver?

Silver and silver coins tarnish. It’s just what silver does. Silver Dollars turn dark and sometimes get a little dark looking. Even silver bars and bullion coins such as Silver Eagles can tarnish. Copper coins tend to corrode, especially old Indian Head Cents.

There are a few ways you can remove dirt and tarnish but for the most part

DO NOT CLEAN YOUR COINS!

DO NOT POLISH YOUR GOLD OR SILVER COINS OR

BULLION!

Originality is valued when it comes to old coins or collectables. If you abrasively clean the coins you are altering the surface and destroying any value that may be there.

Even bullion bars and coins should NEVER be abrasively cleaned. Do not use a Brillo pad, scrubby, sponge, silver polish, or ant gritty cleaner. Chemicals such as ammonia and other cleaners can react with the metal in the coins and change the look and surfaces.

If you scrub a silver bar for example, you won’t make the silver worthless, but you make the bar less desirable and damaged. It will have to sell for discount when damaged.

The best advice I can give you is DO NOT clean the coins. Take your coins to a local dealer if you suspect a coin is valuable. Chances are they can guide you as far as cleaning or “dipping” is needed.

That said some people want to remove tarnish or dirt.

Silver coins can be “dipped”. Often old silver dollars and other coins are “dipped” in jewelry cleaner or specially made coin cleaner to remove the tarnish. This will not necessarily hurt the coin itself.