How To Clean Silver Coins

Above, an uncirculated Peace dollar with tarnish (or
 patina) just beginning to form. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

After finding a bunch of Franklin half dollars in a strongbox that had been locked over 23 years, I found it necessary to clean one of them.

The reason was old masking tape was wrapped around it and the adhesive hardened onto the coin's surface.

Fortunately, I had some non-abrasive jewelry cleaner and cleaned the coin completely. It actually looks quite good.

Cleaning coins is something that stirs up controversy among coin collectors. Generally, cleaning coins (especially silver) with abrasive cleaners is a definite no-no.

Gainesville Coins has posted an article on this subject.

They begin it with:

There are few areas in numismatics as controversial as the matter of cleaning coins. This is certainly true among people who collect or invest in silver coins, which are prone to tarnish. Tarnishing, known as patina among numismatists, is something that coin collectors generally desire – especially when the patination has taken on an eye-appealing color or form.

In the realm of coin collecting, the general rule of thumb is to simply not clean your coins, period. Cleaning a coin can impair its surface and hamper its appearance, causing the coin to lose a significant amount of its collectible value and monetary worth.

It’s often the case that a cleaned coin suffers a decrease in value (above spot) of 20% to 30% or more. Harsh, abrasive cleanings sometimes cut the numismatic premium by more than half. Many silver coins that have been cleaned will lose virtually all their numismatic premium, causing such pieces to be traded only for their bullion content. While this, of course, does not negatively impact a cleaned silver coin’s merit as a bullion vehicle, it does eliminate its potential for being traded as a numismatic item – a lucrative market for collectible silver coinage.

While we address this topic to answer questions some people may have on how to clean silver coins, we want to make it clear that cleaning coins is generally not advised, nor do we endorse it. Cleaning coins, especially with abrasive agents or caustic chemicals, can cause irreparable damage to the coin and irrecuperable loss to its value.

To read more, go here.