Coin Collecting Club

The golden rule of coin collecting is simple. Do not clean your coins. You could say that is strange, huh? Cleaning them is killing them. Cleaning your coins significantly reduces the value. Dealers, collectors and experts in the field will know when a coin has been cleaned, and it won’t garner even a second look if you were trying to sell it.
Some people might think that they should give their collection a scrubbing because a few pieces don shine, or because they look kind of dirty. An old bent coin is more appealing to a collector than a shiny one. You want to retain the originality and authenticity of the coin as well as the mystique. For instance take a collection that was found buried in a bag somewhere. You can tell a story. It looks old; it’s dirty, bent or broken. You also retain the history of the coin.

This is not to say that there are no ways of cleaning your coins. There’s ways to do it, but you better leave it to the experts. If you must clean your coins, then take them to someone who is experienced. The same applies to polishing your coins. Don’t do it. The chemicals in the polish can degrade your collection, and you could end up with more things wrong than you started out with. If you found your coin broken in two, please don’t glue it back together, leave it as is. Another thing, never, ever wash your coins with water. Have you ever seen a greenish looking layer on a coin? That’s what happens when they are exposed to moisture.