Cleaning and Preservation of Coins - A Complete Guide, page 5
CLEANING METHODS for COINS
When you dig up a silver coin while metal detecting in the field, many times you can not make out the date or mint mark. So you are tempted to rub it with your fingers or on your pants to find out. At this point STOP! DO NOT TOUCH THE SURFACE AT ALL if you want this coin to remain valuable! Keep the dirt on the coin and place it in a container with cotton balls to protect it. I always keep a medicine container in my belt pouch for this purpose.
It is known that just wiping the dirt from a rare coin can drop its grade and its value several hundred dollars! It is better to read dates and mint marks of all silver coins at home after you have had time to carefully remove the dirt without damaging the coin. A coin does not have to be minted in the late 1600's to be extremely rare or valuable. To determine whether your coin is valuable or not, you can visit my Numismatic Corner - a guide to the US and other coins, where you will find US coin values, coin images, numismatic information and specifics.
Cleaning bronze and brass relics should be considered carefully, and the relics should be treated the same way as coins, tokens and medals. Leave the dirt on relics and artifacts until you bring them home and can examine and clean them with care.
A Valuable Relic or Coin Should Not Be Cleaned This Way
It is extremely important to familiarize yourself with all types of coins that you might find in your area. For example, the current edition of the "Red Book" - A Guide Book of United States Coins by R.S. Yeoman is the best reference for learning about the US coin types and their histories, retail values, mintage totals and quick reference grading. There are many other fine books on the market which are definitive about specific types of coins for the specialized coin collector.
In case of cleaning a rare silver or copper coin, you should discard the belief of novice coin collectors that the more a coin shines, the more beautiful it must be. If a rare coin is energetically polished, its value will go down dramatically.
Standards for Aesthetic Appearance of Coins:
• Newly minted silver coins should be gleaming and bright.
• Silver coins, fifty to one hundred years old, are lightly tarnished.
• Silver coins over one hundred years old show a gradual darkening from age.
• True healthy patina of copper and bronze coins must always be left alone.
In general, clearly visible dirt should not be left on coins.
If you have any coin you suspect is very valuable and you intend to sell it, DO NOT EVEN RINSE IT IN WATER! Keep the coin secure and take it to a reputable coin dealer.
The following cleaning methods apply for common silver, copper, nickel and other coins.
NOTE: For both mechanical and chemical cleaning of coins the same rule applies: if a treatment is not completely safe, a test treatment must be performed first. It is the best to experiment on coins, such as this 1763 2 Kopeks destroyed by the highly mineralized soil, that cannot be "resurrected."
Copper Coin Obliterated by Soil Minerals
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