HOW TO CLEAN A PENNY OR SHOULD I ??

[Guest]

New to pennies and wanted to know how to clean a penny to get a better look? should i? will this dis-value the coin? thanks for your time and input..

[profiler]

Bill, the short answer is no--never--not from a collecting or resale point of view. Cleaned coins are often pretty easy to spot and yes, it does effect the value (negatively).

P.S. There is a difference between "cleaning" a coin and "conserving" it.

[enamel7]

Depending on what is on the coin. Acetone will remove organics without damaging the coin.

[Maineman750]

don't even use the word "clean" when it comes to coins But...we have a forum dedicated to best practices here http://www.lincolncentforum.com/foru...vation.....and always test on non valuable coins before trying

[silver1985]

Coin condition management

Bill, the short answer is no--never--not from a collecting or resale point of view. Cleaned coins are often pretty easy to spot and yes, it does effect the value (negatively).

P.S. There is a difference between "cleaning" a coin and "conserving" it.

I'm wondering whether the product available at wall mart labeled "GOOF-OFF" (90-95% xylene) would "clean" or "conserve" a MS grade coin.
Has anyone tried this product on a gem?

[profiler]

Silver, I don't know what's in the other 5-10% of "GOOF-OFF" so I can't say. I do know that pure xylene is safe on copper coins (up to a point) and it can loosen some types of grime that acetone won't loosen. (Only use under proper ventilation, wear specialty breathing mask, etc.)

The article here on page 9, written by Bob Piazza, a master Lincoln expert and frequent contributor here on LCF, might get you steered in the right direction: http://hermes.csd.net/~coneca/content/ESVol17No6.pdf. In the isolated case that he writes about, he used a product called "Goo-Gone."

Just note the frequent cautions that conserving coins is not for everyone and if you don't practice diligently on other coins, you could ruin the one in hand.

[BadThad]

DO NOT CLEAN! Read this:

http://www.lincolncentforum.com/forum/showthread.php?24220-The-First-Steps-to-Proper-Coin-Conservation