What's the proper way to clean coins?
I chance upon this site - http://www.philippinecoins.com/.
I learned that cleaning coins will lower their value.

Any experts out there who can advise us on how to properly clean coins?
Vinegar? Acetone? Soap and water? Running water?
Is it safe to wipe them? Wet/Dry cloth.

How about bank notes?

Thanks!!

typically the least harmful to coins is an acetone bath. (put acetone in a dish then place coin in dish) as much as possible, i wouldn't wipe the coins since it will cause small marks on the face of the coin.

i only put coins in an acetone bath if they show signs of pvc contamination. basically if the green stuff starts to form and harden, the value of the coin would be much much lower than one that has gone through an acetone bath or has been cleaned using other methods

What about dusty coins? Got a lot of them last week from my grandma's glass jar.
Can I just put them under running water? (without wiping them)
Dry them by placing them on a cloth? (without wiping them)

Will they get damage if I leave them under the sun (to dry)?


I read somewhere on this forum about using vinegar? Any thoughts?

yes running water and putting them on a cloth to dry should work well.

haven't tried vinegar before so im not sure what the effects of vinegar on coins would be

@Market! Market!
running tap water is fine, wag mo lang i-rub while washing, let the running water do its job, to dry naman, NEVER leave it under the sun, just use a smooth, non-abrasive towel or cloth and gently pat to dry, don't rub also

@ericgo
when using vinegar, add a little table salt (about 1 tsp. to 500ml ratio) to improve effect and avoid hazing in coin, but be wary not to leave too long because vinegar is still acidic and will eat away at the metal, this vinegar method works very well on copper, bronze and brass coins, little effect on nickel, zinc and steel coins, waste of time to use with silver because silver is non reactant

hope these help, use with extreme caution, have a nice day

use of calamansi juice and vinegar is not recommended specially if you are forgetful like me.. it will destroy the coins if you soaked it for a long time.. this is from experience..

Thanks for the replies!!!

So let's say I use tap water to clean out the dust.
How can I make the coins shiny?
Will acetone bath work?
If it does, how long should I leave it submerged?

typically with acetone, a minute or two is enough.

if the coin was never cleaned before, the acetone should help in bringing out the shine of your coin

eric hindi ba destructive ang acetone sa surface ng coin at hindi ba ito mahahalata under a magnifier?

no sir. acetone does not damage the surface of the coin

i also read that, acetone is the only cleaning solution for coins that are readily available and do not leave any mark on the coin surface.. it is used by recognized numismatist groups offering services in cleaning coins..

Tonight, on my way home, I will buy one!



Tomorrow, will clean more coins from my grandma's glass jar.

So just 2 minutes?
What happens if I leave it for 10 minutes? An hour?

Will it corrode the metal? Will it make it shinier? hahaha LOL

basically if the stuff on the surface doesn't come off after a 2 minute acetone bath, it won't come off anymore. so leaving the coin in for an hour, a day a week or a month won't help

@ Market! Market!

Why do you want to clean your coins? Because it is dirty? or dusty? or you want to make it shiny as you have stated it here?

Quote:

How can I make the coins shiny?

My personal advice to you is just leave the coins as is. You don't want to removed by "accident" the dirt and patina that has accumulated all those years. Value will drastically goes down due to an improper and excessive cleaning of coins more so a shiny coin due to cleaning too.

Here's mine.. The first ever coin I have that started me to coin collecting. Bought this 12 years ago. No patina, no dirt and it is very shiny. Why? I cleaned it with a silver cleaner! I was also thinking then why this is not shiny like those new coins. So I cleaned it and nobody then was able to advice me not to do it.. Definitely, the value of this coin is way way down now. So I'm keeping this one not only for educational and historical purposes but also as a testament of my stupidity.. Hope you would learn from my experience..



We uses acetone for cleaning in most cases coins that has some pvc contamination. But if your coins was placed in a glass jar,

Quote:

Tomorrow, will clean more coins from my grandma's glass jar.

, I can't see why it is due to cleaning with acetone because there's no pvc contamination in a glass jar, and if this glass jar has cover on top, maybe some minimal dust/dirt that doesn't warrant an acetone cleaning.

Presently, I have 12 coins immersed in acetone for more than a week now. Trying to remove some tape residues. The acetone didn't affect the coins and the tape residues are still there. Will leave it there for another week before I gave up on this..

By the way, here's my pvc contanimated coins before and after the cleaning. It's been on my cheap National Bookstone coin album for 10 years. It's only recently I discovered these contamination. So I used acetone too. But maybe because it's been there for 10 years, the acetone was only able to removed 80% of it.. So you know what I did? I used a detergent bar to finish it! Not a very good advice but very handy when you're frustrated!



So if you're decided to take those coins out of the glass jar, use either a pvc-free coin album, coin capsule or 2x2 mylar coin holder for storage and to preserve the values of your coins..