There is no safe way to clean coins...

On 27 Jan 2006 10:29:38 -0800, "daler" wrote:

Don't forget though that if you have an essentially black silver coin
due to tarnish that you can put it in warm water on a piece of aluminum
foil with water softener and baking soda. this is a non mechanical way
to reverse the effects of tarnish and make a coin presentable. of
course some coins are beautiful in their current state, so make the
judgment. i think when most newbies ask about cleaning a coin they are
talking about black tarnish and are shocked when the old guard rants
about cleaning. taking a common old commem and turning it from black to
silver is not damaging the coin. i always wonder why my above method is
never mentioned when newbies post the "cleaning" question. people that
deal in antique silver use it all the time.

cheers,
daler

There is a very real problem with restoring the original color to a
silver coin with wear. It just looks terrible. Lifeless and
unnatural. IMHO.
Aram.

"Ira Stein" wrote in message
oups.com...


t's a troll bait post. As soon as the string gets going one of the
confederates will crosspost it
into alt.life.sucks



I thought it was a troll post as soon as I read it. That's why I didn't
respond.

Ira


I think that you were correct in your assumption. Billy

"daler" wrote in message
oups.com...
Don't forget though that if you have an essentially black silver coin
due to tarnish that you can put it in warm water on a piece of aluminum
foil with water softener and baking soda. this is a non mechanical way
to reverse the effects of tarnish and make a coin presentable. of
course some coins are beautiful in their current state, so make the
judgment. i think when most newbies ask about cleaning a coin they are
talking about black tarnish and are shocked when the old guard rants
about cleaning. taking a common old commem and turning it from black to
silver is not damaging the coin. i always wonder why my above method is
never mentioned when newbies post the "cleaning" question. people that
deal in antique silver use it all the time.

cheers,
daler

Because you'd be stripping off the original surface which is damaging the
coin and will continue to keep on damaging the coin since 99% of cleanings
are done improperly. All silver coins will all turn black if given the
opportunity.
A lot of antique dealers who also strip off original patina don't stay in
business very long. Once you go down that road the object made of
silver--doesn't matter what it is--will retone in an unattractive manner and
it will retone much quicker than normal. Then after that they have to
perpetually clean off the ugly tone and each time it burns off material.