March 29, 2024, 04:39:06 AM
Forum Rules: Read This Before Posting


Topic: Cleaning Old Silver (coins) without damaging it  (Read 3071 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline alnke

  • New Member
  • **
  • Posts: 3
  • Mole Snacks: +0/-0
Cleaning Old Silver (coins) without damaging it
« on: September 16, 2019, 04:02:24 AM »
Hello all!
I am not good in chemistry. That's why i am telling you my problem:
I am a coins collector. I read a lot of topics about how to clean silver coins and i found a lot of methods.
First of all, i have some coins silver .835 from around 1880's. They are dirty, have dark color on it.
I want to clean them professional, without damaging them, even if i look at microscope.
Some peoples are telling me to clean with lemon juice, some with baking soda etc. How i can clean them best and keeping them in best condition.

I know you will give me the best idea.
Thank you in advance!!!

Offline chenbeier

  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1348
  • Mole Snacks: +102/-22
  • Gender: Male
Re: Cleaning Old Silver (coins) without damaging it
« Reply #1 on: September 16, 2019, 11:18:08 AM »
Wrap them in aluminium foil and put them in a pot of water containing baking soda. Boil it for 0,5 h and check. Repeat it again i until if they are clean.

Offline alnke

  • New Member
  • **
  • Posts: 3
  • Mole Snacks: +0/-0
Re: Cleaning Old Silver (coins) without damaging it
« Reply #2 on: September 16, 2019, 12:18:37 PM »
Wrap them in aluminium foil and put them in a pot of water containing baking soda. Boil it for 0,5 h and check. Repeat it again i until if they are clean.
This methode is not damaging the coin? Do you think is better than soaking in lemon juice?
I will start to test this right now.

Offline Enthalpy

  • Chemist
  • Sr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 4041
  • Mole Snacks: +304/-59
Re: Cleaning Old Silver (coins) without damaging it
« Reply #3 on: September 16, 2019, 02:21:19 PM »
I thought collectors wanted to keep the patina? Heard from collectors that a cleaned coin has little value.

Offline alnke

  • New Member
  • **
  • Posts: 3
  • Mole Snacks: +0/-0
Re: Cleaning Old Silver (coins) without damaging it
« Reply #4 on: September 16, 2019, 02:26:50 PM »
You have right! We want to keep patina. But i bought some coins wich was found in ground. They are very dirty and as you saw in photo. This is much more than patina. Some of them have material deposits wich hide the details. I want to clean them as safely as possible.

Offline AWK

  • Retired Staff
  • Sr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 7979
  • Mole Snacks: +555/-93
  • Gender: Male
Re: Cleaning Old Silver (coins) without damaging it
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2019, 08:21:51 PM »
Old coins are always damaged (more or less).
AWK

Sponsored Links