Soapy bath?

[Touvex]

I've read on some articles that it's OK to give older sovereigns, or gold coins a gentle bath with soap or washing up liquid and water? I've tried it with one of my very old and won sovereigns and it does bring out the shine! Just wondering, does it devalue the coin if you do it to a better conditioned one? e.g. washing to remove the black stuff that accumulates? Will it negatively impact grade (if grading in the future)/resell? Thanks.

[Gordy]

there was a post by Lawrence Chard the other day about cleaning coins... you should have a read

[GoldStatue]

A lot of it is down to the type of coin and it's condition, it's the hard abrasive cleaning you want to avoid on any coin.

I've dipped a few sovereigns in a soapy bath and never really mastered the best way to let them dry off afterwards, I was always worried it would leave water spots/lines.

If you're considering grading then you can always get it conserved and let the professionals do the cleaning for you.

It's a shame there isn't a service that will just do the cleaning by itself, I've sent a few coins in for grading just for the conservation and wasn't too fussed about the slabbing.

 

[Allgoldcoins]

There is a difference between cleaning and washing coins, if you think about it coins found in shipwrecks have to be washed, that is not cleaning as such. A soapy bath or use a ultra sonic cleaner is fine as all you are doing is dislodging dirt, you are not changing the coins surface. Where you have to be careful is in the drying process, you should not rub the surface of the coin, just allow it to dry on a kitchen towel. You should never use any abrasive type of cleaning solution or metal polish.

 

 

[PJRay]

I cleaned a sovereign once. I won't usually but this one was really grim... like it had lived a large portion of its life stuck down a squaddies undercrackers.

It wasn't a rare one so I thought what the hell.

I read on this very forum about a method of putting a dab of neat washing up liquid on each side and rubbing it gently between your forefinger and thumb, so as you can't feel the faces of coin itself, rather rub only the viscous liquid into the coin. I did that until the green gloop turned brown, then I ran it under the tap and then I patted it dry with a paper towel.

It wasn't gleaming spotless, but it was a big improvement on its original condition which I never really want to touch before.

I want to emphasise again that it was a bog standard bullion sov. Almost literally.

[Touvex]

Thanks so much for the responses guys! My exact thought re warm water and soap/washing up liquid, as it’s not changing the surface rather than onto removing dirty ti should be OK! I actually used the hair dryer when I tested it on one of my bullions and it was perfectly fine. I found that if I soak it a bit first in warm/hot water, then rub it gently as you’d at PJRay, it comes out even better.

[KevjustKev]

Might be worth getting hold of an ultrasonic bath. Pick them up on Amazon for around £35

[Stackermatic]

IPA is used to clean gold plated electronic contacts, so maybe dipping it in a bath of that after the soapy wash would get rid of any soapy residues and prevent water spots as it would evaporate away cleanly.

[Touvex]

5 hours ago, tallthinkev said:

Might be worth getting hold of an ultrasonic bath. Pick them up on Amazon for around £35

always thought these things were industrial and super expensive, dont know why i never googled, great tip!

26 minutes ago, Stackermatic said:

IPA is used to clean gold plated electronic contacts, so maybe dipping it in a bath of that after the soapy wash would get rid of any soapy residues and prevent water spots as it would evaporate away cleanly.

Thanks!

[sovereignsteve]

1 hour ago, Stackermatic said:

IPA is used to clean gold plated electronic contacts, so maybe dipping it in a bath of that after the soapy wash would get rid of any soapy residues and prevent water spots as it would evaporate away cleanly.

acetone is better

[Robda1986]

I'd be tempted to just blow it off with an air line but that's probably a bit of an overkill