How do you guys clean your silver?

[Bilko]

Not that I find much but I did fine a 1723 coin but nothing seems to work on it

Thanks

 

[EZrider]

Once pulled from the ground it go into cotton balls dirt and all. Never rubbed. Get home and soak it in dish soap and warm water. Rinse off after soak "Dont rub". Do this over and over. Soak/rinse untill clean. You can not clean off time.

EZ

 

[moseng]

What "kind" of silver coin is it? A 1723 ??? Whatever though, a 1723 anything is very nice find. Congrats. Any chance for a photo or two?

Cleaning silver is easy... but cleaning ANY old coins is usually a big nono as it affects the numismatic value!! Most all coin collectors like the junk on it. Of course if it is really bad then whose to say if a little cleaning wont actually improve the value. But done the wrong way, well.... it would be bad!

With that said, Lemon juice removes some oxidation but it is an acid so watch the progress closely. There are silver cleaners on the market as well. Did I mention cleaning old coins is not recommended? Of course, it is YOUR coin so if you want it clean and shiny by all means do it.

 

[Nebraska Ray]

n/t

 

[Ray Hogan]

I soak with whatever amonia cleaner I run across at the grocery store....the type that has soap mixed with it. Like others have said...don't rub, a light brushing maybe. Do nothing if you want to preserve the coins "best" value. That being said, I routinely tumble silver coins in a shrarp-edged aquarium gravel/amonia/soap mix if all they are worth is the silver value...and they do come out "spectacularly shiney", and then I store them in an old glass-topped ball jar for display purposes. But that's just me and pretty much with non-key-day "newer" silver that I've picked up at competition hunts. Take care, Ray.

 

[jimmyk]

If badly tarnished, the lemon juice works good. I add a table spoon of salt to a cup of juice and after 24 hours, it usually can be cleaned with a soft toothbrush. For common silver coins I clean the dirt off by lightly brushing with a soft toothbrush, then use powdered Cream of Tartar and warm water to make a paste you can rub with your fingers to polish them up and remove light tarnishing. I've had some silver coins so badly corroded you couldn't tell they were even silver. With the lemon juice and salt they came out perfectly clean.

jimmyk in Missouri

 

[UtahRich]

Dirt and Loose debris are cleaned off very carefully with a rinse of water and a soft toothbrush. Any toning (darkening or discoloration) is left. I do not want a brightly polished piece of silver that has lost all character.

good luck

 

[Bilko]

thanks for all of these!