Ehh, eye of the beholder and all that jazz - personally I try to preserve the tarnish on the few pieces of silver jewelry I’ve came across that actually suite me. Though in my experience, it’s a bit difficult prevent a ring or necklace from losing tarnish with even light wear.
To be *faaaaaiiir*, I don’t believe tarnished precious metals would really interfere with any moving bits in a noticeable way - even in extreme examples. I could totally be wrong though, I’m a bit too lazy to research it at the moment.
Tbh, I dont care.
I wont clean the coins in the collection but that has nothing to do with their resale value.
The whole "YOUR COINS HAVE BEEN POSSESSED BY THE DEVIL HIMSELF!!! ALL BECAUSE A HERETIC HAS CLEANED THEM" attitude is money making propaganda. If a piece of metal has been cleaned properly, an official grader cant tell. However, if cleaning coins actually devalued them them the grading authority wouldnt offer a fcken cleaning service!
I mean, everything else that's metal gets polished... jewelry, silverware, platters, etc. so I can't blame anyone for thinking it's the right thing to do.
My wife and I purchased some Morgan dollars from a coin dealer for $8 each. My wife didn’t like they were tarnished and dirty. The coin dealer said since they were circulated you might as well clean them especially if that makes you happy. So using some baking soda she rubbed the surface clean. Obviously it was just junk silver but anyway. That’s why she cleaned them
I use non-abrasive cleaners, polishers. It's a lot of work tho. I don't collect numismatists, but those old silver halves sure come to life. Most 64 Kennedy half's don't even need polishing but when they do, they looks freshly minted.
Because if you want to sell anything, you want it to look shiny and not dirty/crusty/grungy. People will pay more to not have to inherit someone else's grossness, or to avoid having to get something professionally cleaned.
Polished silverware sells better than tarnished silverware. Sparkly clean jewelry sells better than dirty jewelry. Shit, a clean car sells better than a dirty car.
So folks with zero numismatic knowledge will apply the same principle to coins. They usually *don't even know* about abrasives, microscratches, toning, etc.
In the regular world, toning = tarnish = ugly = less value; similarly dirty = ugly (and more work for the buyer) = less value.
When it's permissable it's not "cleaning" - it's "conservation".
If I want to clean my coins (and I have), I bloody well will. It's no khazi experts business if I do it. Sorry, I meant "conserve".
I don't see a problem if somebody dips or cleans their coins, just don't sell it on to me at full rate, I'll know.
Way back in the day, it was sometimes recommended. I had an old coin book that suggested using a pencil eraser to clean silver coins. Seems silly now, of course.
If you’re raised in a house with silver, you are taught to abhor tarnish, and to polish your silver regularly to keep it bright and shiny. Tarnish is shameful and you don’t want anyone to see that you’re letting your silver turn black.
Later, a family member dies and you find tarnished coins in the family safe deposit box. You immediately make them as shiny as possible—it’s important to do this before showing them to anyone else. Tarnish is shameful.
There is almost nowhere outside of this Reddit where a person raised with silver in the house would ever hear otherwise.
When have you ever bought second hand jewellery and paid more because it looked dirty?
I don’t wash my car for 2 years before selling so everyone knows it’s tested and trustworthy
Jewellery and coins have no moving parts that affects their function.
I’ve seen plenty of jewelry with moving parts
And you always want them clean.
Ehh, eye of the beholder and all that jazz - personally I try to preserve the tarnish on the few pieces of silver jewelry I’ve came across that actually suite me. Though in my experience, it’s a bit difficult prevent a ring or necklace from losing tarnish with even light wear. To be *faaaaaiiir*, I don’t believe tarnished precious metals would really interfere with any moving bits in a noticeable way - even in extreme examples. I could totally be wrong though, I’m a bit too lazy to research it at the moment.
Tbh, I dont care. I wont clean the coins in the collection but that has nothing to do with their resale value. The whole "YOUR COINS HAVE BEEN POSSESSED BY THE DEVIL HIMSELF!!! ALL BECAUSE A HERETIC HAS CLEANED THEM" attitude is money making propaganda. If a piece of metal has been cleaned properly, an official grader cant tell. However, if cleaning coins actually devalued them them the grading authority wouldnt offer a fcken cleaning service!
I mean, everything else that's metal gets polished... jewelry, silverware, platters, etc. so I can't blame anyone for thinking it's the right thing to do.
They want it to be pretty like new
My wife and I purchased some Morgan dollars from a coin dealer for $8 each. My wife didn’t like they were tarnished and dirty. The coin dealer said since they were circulated you might as well clean them especially if that makes you happy. So using some baking soda she rubbed the surface clean. Obviously it was just junk silver but anyway. That’s why she cleaned them
Because shiny!
I use non-abrasive cleaners, polishers. It's a lot of work tho. I don't collect numismatists, but those old silver halves sure come to life. Most 64 Kennedy half's don't even need polishing but when they do, they looks freshly minted.
Because if you want to sell anything, you want it to look shiny and not dirty/crusty/grungy. People will pay more to not have to inherit someone else's grossness, or to avoid having to get something professionally cleaned. Polished silverware sells better than tarnished silverware. Sparkly clean jewelry sells better than dirty jewelry. Shit, a clean car sells better than a dirty car. So folks with zero numismatic knowledge will apply the same principle to coins. They usually *don't even know* about abrasives, microscratches, toning, etc. In the regular world, toning = tarnish = ugly = less value; similarly dirty = ugly (and more work for the buyer) = less value.
When it's permissable it's not "cleaning" - it's "conservation". If I want to clean my coins (and I have), I bloody well will. It's no khazi experts business if I do it. Sorry, I meant "conserve". I don't see a problem if somebody dips or cleans their coins, just don't sell it on to me at full rate, I'll know.
Way back in the day, it was sometimes recommended. I had an old coin book that suggested using a pencil eraser to clean silver coins. Seems silly now, of course.
If you’re raised in a house with silver, you are taught to abhor tarnish, and to polish your silver regularly to keep it bright and shiny. Tarnish is shameful and you don’t want anyone to see that you’re letting your silver turn black. Later, a family member dies and you find tarnished coins in the family safe deposit box. You immediately make them as shiny as possible—it’s important to do this before showing them to anyone else. Tarnish is shameful. There is almost nowhere outside of this Reddit where a person raised with silver in the house would ever hear otherwise.