Cleaning coins- Will Tarn-X work?
Mike & Angela Wood
I have been reading the debates on cleaning coins and was wondering if
a substance like tarn-x would work. If I have read the bottle right,
you just dip a piece of silver into the stuff and it removes the
tarnish.
I have several silver bars and some coin that are tarnished, but I don't
have the nerve to try using tarn-x unless I can be sure I will not do
more harm than good.
What do you all think? Anyone ever try the stuff?
AnswerMan2
>>>>wondering if a substance like tarn-x would work
======
Tarn-X contains acid, so it is one of the destructive cleaning methods - not
recommended for coins.
Alan Herbert - Contributing Editor, Numismatic Products - Krause Publications,
Inc.
"The world's largest hobby publisher"
answe...@aol.com || CTCU29A(Alan Herbert)@prodigy.com
Jorg Lueke
What it will do is remove the top layer of the coin which includes the
tarnish and all of the original surface. This will make the coin extremly
bright and shiny but severly damage its value as a collectible.
Jorg
Slabbin' Bob
> Mike & Angela Wood wrote:
>
> > I have been reading the debates on cleaning coins and was wondering if
> > a substance like tarn-x would work.
It is very effective at stripping-off the surface layer of the silver object.
> If I have read the bottle right,
> > you just dip a piece of silver into the stuff and it removes the
> > tarnish.
> >
You can do the same thing by dipping a piece of silver intoa tank of water
that contains some bicarbonate of soda
and a piece of aluminum foil. It is the exact-same process.
> > I have several silver bars and some coin that are tarnished, but I don't
> > have the nerve to try using tarn-x unless I can be sure I will not do
> > more harm than good.
>
Anyone who wants to STRIP off the top layer of their silver collectablecoins
must be nuts.
Slabbin' Bob
Frank Provasek
In article <357afbce...@news.earthlink.net>,
doh...@earthlink.net (Don Hanson) wrote:
>
>Why don't you use what the coin dealers use. It's called "MS70"
>cleaner. It works great on silver. It's best not to use anything on
>copper. I overheard two dealers talking at a recent coin show. One was
>telling the other how he bought a 1882-S Morgan dollar slabbed PCGS
>MS63 that was basicly mark free but had "subdued" luster. He told the
>other dealer that he "cracked" it out, cleaned it with MS70 cleaner,
>submitted it to PCGS and got it back slabbed at MS65. He was gloating
>about how much "profit" he made selling the coin to an unsuspecting
>customer. Needless to say, I passed his table by. Moral: Don't clean
>your coins. Unless your one of those dealers who are destroying the
>hobby to make a buck!!!
>
Suppose you bought a diamond that was offered at a low price
because of substandard brilliance...but was merely dirty. If you
properly removed the dirt so that the true brilliance showed, who
could call that "destroying the hobby to make a buck."
Despite the rumors, PCGS does not clean coins submitted to them.
And a coin with subdued luster, either made that way, impaired,
or simply DIRTY will receive a lower grade than a coin with
the surface grime properly removed.
>
>On Wed, 03 Jun 1998 23:59:51 -0800, Mike & Angela Wood
><wo...@sinbad.net> wrote:
>
>>I have been reading the debates on cleaning coins and was wondering if
>>a substance like tarn-x would work. If I have read the bottle right,
>>you just dip a piece of silver into the stuff and it removes the
>>tarnish.
>>
>>I have several silver bars and some coin that are tarnished, but I don't
>>have the nerve to try using tarn-x unless I can be sure I will not do
>>more harm than good.
>>
>>What do you all think? Anyone ever try the stuff?
>>
>
>
Causey's Rare Coins Quality Coins Since 1966
1806 Layton Ave http://www.netcom.com/~ropertex/
Ft Worth, TX 76117 Members ANA, Texas Coin Dealers
817-831-0074 Assoc, ICTA, PCGS, NGC
email cau...@collector.org
Xlat
>I have been reading the debates on cleaning coins and was wondering if
>a substance like tarn-x would work. If I have read the bottle right,
>you just dip a piece of silver into the stuff and it removes the
>tarnish.
>
>I have several silver bars and some coin that are tarnished, but I don't
>have the nerve to try using tarn-x unless I can be sure I will not do
>more harm than good.
>
>What do you all think? Anyone ever try the stuff?
>
It works great, cleans 'em right up.... Problem is it takes the value
of any decent coin and pretty much turns it to sh** ......
Don Hanson
Why don't you use what the coin dealers use. It's called "MS70"
cleaner. It works great on silver. It's best not to use anything on
copper. I overheard two dealers talking at a recent coin show. One was
telling the other how he bought a 1882-S Morgan dollar slabbed PCGS
MS63 that was basicly mark free but had "subdued" luster. He told the
other dealer that he "cracked" it out, cleaned it with MS70 cleaner,
submitted it to PCGS and got it back slabbed at MS65. He was gloating
about how much "profit" he made selling the coin to an unsuspecting
customer. Needless to say, I passed his table by. Moral: Don't clean
your coins. Unless your one of those dealers who are destroying the
hobby to make a buck!!!
On Wed, 03 Jun 1998 23:59:51 -0800, Mike & Angela Wood
James Michael McGarigle
I have had mixed results with tarn-x. It is fine on higher grades of silver
but sometimes with lower grades (fine and below) it removes details that
only the 'toning' preserves. Don't use it on copper or bronze, it leaves it
porous or worn looking - sort of stripped. But if you have a silver dollar
in blackened ef or au go ahead and make it sparkle again. Sometimes a vf-30
coin will look nice afterwards too.
Jim
>On Wed, 03 Jun 1998 23:59:51 -0800, Mike & Angela Wood
><wo...@sinbad.net> wrote:
>
>>I have been reading the debates on cleaning coins and was wondering if
>>a substance like tarn-x would work. >>What do you all think? Anyone ever
try the stuff?
>>
>
Stephen D. Brown
On 7 Jun 1998 02:07:46 GMT, Xlat...@hotmail.com (Xlat) wrote:
>On Wed, 03 Jun 1998 23:59:51 -0800, Mike & Angela Wood
><wo...@sinbad.net> wrote:
>
>>I have been reading the debates on cleaning coins and was wondering if
>>a substance like tarn-x would work. If I have read the bottle right,
>>you just dip a piece of silver into the stuff and it removes the
>>tarnish.
>>
>>I have several silver bars and some coin that are tarnished, but I don't
>>have the nerve to try using tarn-x unless I can be sure I will not do
>>more harm than good.
>>
>>What do you all think? Anyone ever try the stuff?
>>
>
>It works great, cleans 'em right up.... Problem is it takes the value
>of any decent coin and pretty much turns it to sh** ......
I only use Tarn-X on my bullion coins especially the 1990 Kookaburras
that all developed a maroon tarnish. I left some tarnished and then
quickly dipped the others for only a second or less and then
thoroughly rinse with water and then pat dry with a towel. Never rub.
Steve
Thanks alot.....Steve Brown
sd...@isoa.net
Goran Stromsten
James Michael McGarigle <@frontiernet.net> wrote in message
<6lldv5$1e1u$1...@node17.cwnet.frontiernet.net>...
>I have had mixed results with tarn-x. It is fine on higher grades of silver
>but sometimes with lower grades (fine and below) it removes details that
>only the 'toning' preserves.
And why does it remove these details ?? Wow, has this gentleman ever thought
of what he's doing to his higher grade stuff by using a solution that
removes metal from the surface of the coin ??
It's no wonder that the details are preserved on coins in better shape,
because there's still metal left after exposing the coin to the fluid. I'd
say that the higher grade coins aren't any longer higher grade after such a
treatment.
Maybe a look on how to clean ancient coins without damaging the patina would
be useful. It might give some new ideas for removing dirt from modern stuff.
Goran Stromsten,
Finland