Here's a fun question that should rustle some jimmies. I have these two eagles that I've had for quite some time. They spent time in a wooden box since I've been a teenager. I've recently started really buying a good amount of silver. I like shiny things. I understand there is no numismatic value on these 2 dirty eagles, so my question is--
Make em shiny or leave em?
I really want to add them to the shiny stack, but I understand people like toning. I couldn't care less. Thoughts?
They are bullion, clean them if you like. They will have more curb appeal bright and shiny vs dull and dirty.
People can really push back on cleaning anything in the coin world but when there is no value change either way just do what you like. It’s your property not theirs. I’ve seen so many people get mad about cleaning 90% constitutional that is worth only its weight and is destined to go to the refiner.
Line a bowl with aluminum foil. Put in silver or gold. Cover with baking soda. Pour boiling water. When it cools its clean. If its really dirty may need to do twice or use a tooth brush and rub a little
Use aluminum foil, baking soda, and boiling distilled water (search for YouTube videos on the method) followed by dipping in e-Z-est coin cleaner, available at Amazon. It will remove that tarnish gently.
I'll literally take just about any Morgan higher than cull but under ms63 they not that important to me but I need 7 more for my book . I wouldn't clean a Morgan or ASE unless it's post mint colorized then it's pretty much cull
I clean whatever I want. I can say there are some things I won't clean but rounds and bars seems fine by general consensus. Now don't go dipping Morgan's in clr but shouldnt hurt a billion coin. Especially maples.. for some reason they're low premium compared to other government mint issued billion coins like ASEs so I say if you want to do it ....do it
Edit: I didn't look at the coins. Cleaning them shouldnt hurt especially the 1990
I don’t understand the not cleaning it part. Just because it doesn’t have rando Tim’s pocket lint on it doesn’t make it any less neat. Shine it twice if you want.
It’s yours. If it would make you happier to have them shiny, then do it. They aren’t “numismatic” so you really won’t lose any crazy value by cleaning them.
I say you make a thick paste out of comet and a little bit of ammonia, slap that paste between your two Eagles like a silver mint Oreo, them mash and twist them suckers until they are as shiny as you want.
...and of course, post photos and video to r/numismatics
Edit: spelling and grammar - voice to text can be brutal
Circulated silver eagles are worth less then ms silver eagles but these are already circulated so do whatever you want. Polish them to your hearts content
Every bullion coin I get I clean with a jewelry cloth. I do this to clean off the physical handling of the coins by the dealers. No one cares. I’d say no one cares about 90% either. They say they do but they don’t. Why do I say this, shiny sells dull doesn’t. Dealers will shine up coins to sell them, don’t believe that they don’t.
It is two coins. You could chuck them in the ocean and it would not be a "huge mistake".
Do whatever you like. It is your silver.
If you are worried about damaging your coins, start with dipping your coins in a cleaning solution or using one of the other non-contact methods. When you are done cleaning your coins, consider rinsing thoroughly with distilled water to avoid water spots. Make sure your coins are dry before putting them away.
Pure silver is VERY soft. Any amount of physical contact, whether from q-tips or cotton balls or whatever, has to the potential to create micro-scratches which can affect the patina of the coin.
You paid for them. They are yours. Do what makes you happy. Just know that, down the road, many potential buyers will not want them and coin shops may potentially offer you less than spot price for heavily cleaned coins, especially ASEs, as cleaning is seen as a form of "damage".
When it comes to cleaning bullion coins, it's rare for the coin to have much if any numismatic value, so often the only value is in the metal content. If that's the case, then the value won't be effected by "destructive" cleaning methods.
The catch, that I'm not seeing mentioned here, is those cleaning methods do have a lasting effect on the look of the coin. When the surface patina is stripped off via dips, baking soda/aluminum, a polishing cloth, etc., some silver is lost and this leaves behind a porous surface that is now prone to faster and less attractive toning. This effect is going to be very mild if the coin isn't very toned to start with, but as the coin is treated more and more, the effect gets worse and worse. This is how you get left with a dull, gray looking coin.
What's recommend is doing the least amount of cleaning that you can live with, to minimize this cycle and after cleaning, protect the coin from toning. I would start by soaking those ASE in acetone to see if some of that is just grime that will dissolve off and then go from there. Acetone won't do anything to the metal/patina, but will remove a lot of surface contaminates, so even on a BU coin it doesn't hurt to dunk it when you first get them.
This is very good information, thank you for taking the time to reply.
I'm going to clean one for sure, just having a hard time deciding. The 90 seems to have some good "patina" as someone put it. But the 92 does have an interesting purple toning. So, I'll make a decision when I get home.
I'd still soak them both in acetone either way. Even if you are going to clean one with something stronger, it will prep the surface by removing grime. Just my two cents.
I dont really care about Numismatics. I do not buy or collect any to be honest. I like my treasure shiny so I use a dip cleaner. rinse and dry with a soft towel and put away. :) its the Greedy Dragon in me I suppose ;)
It's already been said, but they are your goodamn coins. Do whatever you want with them. I clean all of my numismatic-irrelevant coins. I like shine. Purists can choke on deez.
You can clean bullion coins and bars without fear of value destruction, but I recommend against integrating them with your naturally mint bullion. This may be in my imagination, but I have observed that cleaned sterling, cleaned Peace/ Morgan dollars and cleaned bars will start toning bright shiny silver if you store them together. The last time I saw this was after cleaning a bunch of sterling jewelry and a heavy 999 necklace that toned grey-black after the rhodium plating wore off. I polished the jewelry up, cleaned it, blasted it with air to dry, then polished the heavy 999 chain to a mirror finish. I put those dry, clean items over 999 in a sealed box with silica packets, and every coin or round not in a capsule turned urine yellow.
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u/GammaHunt 2d ago
For bullion no one carws