Great video! Your comment about not dipping coins below mint state (or extremely close to it - AU55+) is the best advice I picked up here. I've tried cleaning a few lightly circulated coins and it just never looked better/right afterwards. And that's good advice on copper. I like to use the word "salmon" to describe the color of a dipped copper coin. It looks sickly and unnatural.
If you clean a coin and remove all the toning, and then put it back in a box for a long while, it will get more toning. On an uncirculated coin, you will also lose the original frosted look, which is a shame.
I've recently begun going through my collection, which includes coins I set aside 40+ years ago, and haven't set eyes on for literally decades. I've been pleased with the many coins that have acquired beautiful, attractive toning. It would be a crime to remove it.
You should use a jewelry basket which is made of plastic. Thats what I use. No chance of damaging the coin with metal tools. I also use Goddards Silver Dip for coins. I have 35 years of experience dipping coins with no tell tale marks. You do have to be very selective in which ones you do. Usually MS60 or higher.
Correct, and I do use baskets for more than 1 coin. Some AU coins I dip, but your right, generally speaking MS or higher. One place people go wrong is they assume anything with tarnish should be dipped. That isn't the case.
One thing for sure about PCGS detecting cleaned coins is that PCGS always finds that coin that we hope is going to get an MS grade but instead returns in a body bag.
@@Rob_Fordd You can clean AU58 or better. What gives away lower grade coins when they are cleaned is that the toning doesn't match the condition. You can send coins to PCGS for restoration. I wouldn't do it myself.
Hurt the value? Wouldn't dirty coins hide the actual state of coins vs the actual silver condition of the coin? Like hidden scratches, should it be worse than a cleaned coin to expose the actual surface and condition where surface grading would count the scratches in loss of value on any other coin?
@@KaliBlaz That's because THEY want to offer you very little for your coin and clean it themselves utilizing the best methods and sell it for thousands more. Like most things these days it is a scam that makes it a buyer's market.
Ive got a 1999 american eagle. Its the valuable one. Its been in a holder that got cracked and was never put into a new holder . Its recently been removed but has toning where its was exposed by the crack and now toning on the edge. Should i dip this coin?
I dipped a 1928 US coronet head large cent (penny) that I bought for $15, with a hole in it. I decided it was damaged anyway, and now I enjoy wearing it as a pendant.
You sure can. This is considered proper conservation. Although the grading companies do not describe it themselves, and they likely don't officially "condone it" they only do so because there are so many amateurs' out there will ruin coins that they can't be too careful.
How does it hurt the value? It’s still an ounce of silver right? Also, can’t you just toss it in a yellow envelope now and let it sit for six months to get that rainbow toning?
Great video! Thanks for the informative presentation! What are your thoughts about using a home remedy (boiling water, baking soda, sea salt, vinegar and aluminum) vs E-Zest? Honestly, I've not tried the home remedy, nor this process, but which is better? Is there one or another that's "detectable" for grading? I seriously do not know, so I thought you could help!
Hello Artemis, I thought I replied to this but my comment didn't save. I'm really sorry about that. I would recommend sticking to E-Zest. However, when it comes to conservation, sometimes the best methods, are found through scientific experimentation. ;) i will leave it at that.
Baking soda and table salt dissolved in water, with the coin sitting on aluminum foil in that water, works very well. It also does not remove any silver; it chemically removes the sulfur and leaves the silver intact. It's not abrasive (as someone suggested) unless you're doing it very wrong. Look for another video on silver cleaning by "nurdrage."
It definitely looks much better! Good job and that was the exact quick way to do it! Long time dipping will take a deeper layer off the coin which can damage. The amazing thing I have seen on copper that is a brownish reddish BU coin from the 1960's 1970's 1980's can make them new and red and shiny again. It must be MS uncirculated to begin with. I would not do on rare dates though. A worn AU or worst brown coin will turn pink. It must be BU uncirculated to start for the best results. When they are mint BU to start they will end up looking like they were just minted and are very shiny. The worst is when you you get that dull pink look. Again I would never do it on a rare date, unless you are professional. Coins that may be worth a few dollars are fun to play around.
You Americans with your MS this, MS that - what a load of rubbish! If a coin is MINT, then it's UNCIRCULATED! If it's MINT with full lustre, it's BRILLIANT UNCIRCULATED!! It's as simple as that.
Awesome video, coin looks killer. Everyone has their opinion which they are not wrong, it’s their preference. Me, personally I enjoy the history of the coin versus the silver value I have a 1944 d half with the natural original patina. I enjoy pondering about who used this coin to buy their needs before going to war
You might be outta luck on that one my friend. I have not seen anyone tackle that and turn a dark tarnished coin into a nice MS62 at best. Most cleaning tutorials are removing PVC or light toning. GL if you do.
my biggest pet peeve is when people polish or clean things with paper towels or napkins. They can be as abrasive as fine sandpaper on certain surfaces. Not calling you out; obviously using them to gently pat a coin dry is perfectly fine.
I hear that Plastic tweezers or rubber coated on the points of the tweezers & Rubber gloves , ( Amazon ) Never use Matel to Matel could get color stains / Black tone marks & Scratches with Matel tweezers , Also another thing is I think they turn out a little better if you drop the coins right into the cleaner for a full 10 seconds & use something plastic to give it a stir like a plastic knife / fork / spoon or straw Or pop the lid back on the cleaner & shake a little , Just to help it break up the stubborn dirt & stains , Only time I use it is on really Nasty coins & Not on Key Date coins.
Great question! The contents can be reused but eventually it will need to be changed out. You sort of have to go by feel a little bit. Does it seem like its taking a long rinse to get a good result? That's usually the question I ask myself to gauge it. But for a cup this size, probably after about 150-200 coins it would need to be changed.
Would you. or could I . dip a proof coin. If it had ugly toning . such as a 1953 franklin hafe. And after a coin has been dipped . could I get it graded with NGC.
@Brody Covert Dipped correctly (follow the instructions), NGC and PCGS will not be able to tell if a mint state coin has been dipped. Every LCS has a jar of E-Z-est or similar material in the back room. When PCGS or NGC dips a coin, it's called "conservation". When you do it, they call it "cleaning". LOL.
Well, I'm a little iffy on proofs. Depends on the coin. The problem with proof dipping isn't that they come out poorly, or they designate them as cleaned, its the fact that dip leaves residue if it isn't fully rinsed off. Also drying the coin with paper towel, sometimes will leave little lint scrapes due to how soft the exposed reflective metal is. All it takes is one lint scrape to take it from a 70 to a 69, another one is another grade, and so on. They are very picky about proofs.
What is consider cleaning a coin soap, water and a tooth brush? When I pull them out of the ground i can’t make heads or tales of age. What should i do instead? Thanks
There is only one kind of coin that you should dip, and that is a fully uncirculated coin. Circulated coins should be dirty. They should show lots of dark oxidation. Although this can be confusing, its really about what is the industry norm. One way to think about this as another dealer described it, Dipped circulated coins are alot like someone wearing shorts and sandals in winter. It just looks awkward.
@@devastator665 Ty very much - even looking back at my question I cannot understand myself and would agree with your synopsis. My new concerns/questions are DMPL/PL/Proof Morgan Dollars....I'm starting to amass a pile to send in when I send some gold coins to NGC/PCGS/etc....The crazy thing is that I'm 90% one of them has all of the qualities that Ben the Coin Geek describes with his 1892 Proof Morgan(mine is 1886). I would be hesitant if it wasn't this year but I've been reading up on that year specifically and I just need more info - I found it in a pawn shop with a TON of haze/toning but clearly UNC - Ben and his channel rightly describe somethings as Speckled/antique-like on certain parts of the devices...I've also got a 1880-s/1881-s and an 1885 that have more than met the burden for PL but that can be contrasted with either haze/silk-like qualities or something similar.
If you have to clean old barber halves (NOT ADVISED) the safest is just a bit of soap and water. Less is better. Acetone is good for just getting tape or heavy buildup. The problem is that no one does it just a little, they always think it looked better with a little more rubbing. DON"T DO IT.
you can dip a proof but if what you describe is "milk spots or haze" that only comes off with pressure like erasure. No one will recommend that! You get it a lot on silver maple leafs a few years ago. It comes from the annealing.
@@devastator665 It's funny though - sometimes especially with 1880-S --1882-S the fields can have this weird old chemical on them and some of it can even be gotten off by simply soaking a few in a bowl of water overnight which will regardless bring the luster-like cartwheel back a little bit brighter... :)
@@davidho2977 I should have clarified that it's distilled water...that's a good point although somehow it doesn't count nearly to the level it should be for us with the contaminants found in tap water
@@devastator665 What if you have a very very dirty coin no matter what it is. OR the coin NEEDS a small bit of soap and water so you can see the year,mint,etc etc. Does that hurt with pcgs or ngc???
@@devastator665 It did I was extremely surprised at the results even more that there was no visible evidence of the dip even under maginafaction Thank you for watching
They know... They just tolerate it. In a perfect world they might designate on the hold "Properly cleaned" but they figure it will make people even more likely to improperly scrub their coins trying to achieve the right state of cleanliness. :)
Great video! I have dipped a couple "trial" coins that I felt would benefit and they both turned out great. I'm just not ready to dip my more expensive ones lol.
You dont have the black spots, but any respectable collector will spot this a mile away. And on a high res photo, it will actually look worse since you took all the toning off, and will flatten the image tremendously. Instead of having that frosted look and the mint lustre in the fields, you now have a full lustre everywhere. Which doesnt appear on 80yo coins unless theyve been kept in a vacuum.
I never ever use metal tongs on a silver coin. Get a jewelry basket made out of plastic set the coin in there and dip it in the coin dip. Also I noticed when you finish dipping a coin you kept turning it with your finger on the reverse and obverse Leaving oil from your finger on the face of the coin. That’s Stephanie and no no.
How can you know the cleaned coin is worse now? What if you couldn't even see the mint mark? What if there was crap all over her face? How can you assume the cleaned coin is worse than the dirty coin you never saw?
What I don’t get is how a cleaned coin “cannot” get back dirty or patina or aged WITH TIME!! Like okay I cleaned it improperly, don’t you think with TIME it will AGE again. Perhaps even tone better? I just don’t get it, they’re my coins and I paid melt value so what’s the big deal if I improperly cleaned them and NOW like the nice shiny look instead of the dirty dull gunky coins.😂
I agree with James Darnell. This is not a proper cleaning method and will destroy the coins value. The reason we use this dip method is because it doesn't interfere with the coins natural luster. Your method tampers with the metal flow lines and makes the coin "polished" which is not a market appropriate look, regardless of how shiny the coin might appear.
This is for dummies by dummies. Just wear a plastic glove hold the coin then rotate so all of the rim is dipped. You are using an acid that is why dipping is bad. If you don't believe me dip it several times and you will see how the natural bloom and lustre just goes away. You have a blast white coin that looks pretty and everyone knows it has been dipped. Send it to PCGS and you have a 50/50 chance. Also you forgot to look and see if you have toning where to tongs held it.