In the sixties I learned the ammonia method from a coin collector. Have used it ever since: lay the silver coins for about 30 minutes in 10 % ammonia water, then brush and rinse in running water. However this method is too mild when the coins are very severely oxidized.
Yesterday I've asked the Royal Coin and Medal Museum. They advise the same method! Their second method: lay the coins a few hours to a day in 10% citric acid, then brush, rinse etc.
Haven't tried that yet.

I'll try citric acid too...I've it in stock..thx..

This is all dependent on RESTORATION or Cleaning. Restoration is used on very old coins often in poor condition. Cleaning may be as simple as a rub with a cloth.
To clean a silver piece acid is the best. But do you need to clean it to that stanard?
Restoration or that level of cleaning is mainly used for identification of the piece not to make it look cool.

OK..citric acid works, but it takes over 18 hours and one has to afterpolish with a soft cloth..

Any better method re removing the tarnish from silvercoins?

I suppose one can forget ever to get them back in original state, even brand new ones that got a bit brown/yellish, without using a soft cloth to polish them, which then easily makes them too blank..

I'm almost willing to believe the only way is to use commercial silverpolish, which does the job fast, but also makes them too blank.

I haven't however yet tried baking soda with hot water and aluminuim foil in the bottom of a plasticcontainer..
Anybody have tried this, really tried it out, and not just read about it, and whith what amount of success??

Silver IS a probelm.
Copper f.ex. isn't..

It's easy to get *blank* (in this case) copper by dipping in a solution of vinegar and salt..that is a very eay way to get coper blank, but it doesn't last 2 days..
Silver however..no easy and fast way found so far.

I tried the baking soda thing last night. After years of hibernation the magician in me is comin' out. I polished my halves before packing stuff up a long time ago, and I found a really weird thing. I had my coins in a very small paper bag rolled up tight and taped closed with a label on the outside marking the year of the sets. Upon opening them I found that everywhere the coins 'touched' each other was is great condition, but the parts that were exposed tarnished. This sucks... as it leaves inconsistant sized half moon marks on the whole stack.

Baking soda didn't "CLEAN" the coins. It did however change the level of tarnish to a lighter tone. This doesn't work for me as the half moon marks are still there.

Wright's silver cream and silver polish was the available brand at my local grocery store. I took the advice of Pete and used the cream. WOW! What a difference. I love the way those old coins polish up. I use '64~'69 and am not really concerned about the resell worth. I really like the way they shine up... it's almost a mirror finish.

Craig

Thanx Craig, what you posted makes sense to me..actually it is what I settled for too....

All those clever tips re removing 'tarnish' works on copper, but NOT on silver at all..

Using a silver polish does the job and one never can get back to the original state where the silver is slightly dull..

Another thing is, that one should store silvercoins (new ones) in a plasticbag, singly, only one coin per bad, the bag should be airtight.

Doing so, will prevent the silvercoins from tarnishing! 100%

Another method 'might', I haven't tried it, to wrap the coins into kitchen aluminium foil, this would probably match what you discovered, that they will not get tarnished, where alufoil is in contact with the coin.

Or, just stack the coins and wrap them into a plasticbag, so each coins touches another.

I collect coins as well as do tricks with them. Even for the purposes of doing tricks, I cannot imagine polishing any of them (even silver coins). It makes them too shiny and gives them a very blank and flat look. The tarnish and dirt around the edges gives the coins character, detail and, of course, retains whatever numismatic value they may have. So, in my humble opinion, not polishing is the best way to go, for more reasons than one. However, if you have some routine that you think looks best with a set of blazingly shiny coins, go for it! There are always excetptions, subject to everyones's individual taste. In that case, I agree that you should consult a coin dealer, and use the safest, most value-preserving polish for your coins.

Numismagically Thinking,

Dr. Faust

Ok, I posted this in another section, but I'll pass the info on here too. Try this on a coin from your pocket, not a magic coin, to see if you like what it does. Use a pencil eraser to remove old crud and the like from your coin. You will be amazed at what it does for copper coins. As for silver and clad coins, I have a miracle answer. Go to your local music store (one that sells musical instruments such as clarinets and flutes and trumpets and the like) and ask them for a "Selmer Polishing Cloth" You want the one that is YELLOW. Selmer makes a blue and an orange one too, but you want the yellow one. It should say on the outside of it something like, "For nickel and silver plated finishes" Use this cloth to rub the coins and the tarnish will not only come off, but they will shine like new!

I am a jeweler, and I find that this cloth works better than ANY other cloth that I have EVER found in any of my jewelry supply catalogs. There are a lot of other silver cloths out there, i.e. sylvet, but they don't work as well as the Selmer one. While you're at it, try giving your jewelry or your sig. other's jewelry a rub with the cloth. You will be amazed!

Tgroenjes
Thanx for the info you providet...
I try to get a such 'cloth'.

Removing metal from the coins always reduces value, try washing them instead.

Cleaning and polishing are two different things.

Heads up folks, bit tip coming.

I got some okay coins and polished them to smooth the basic surfaces a bit so the thing could shine. Polishing something makes it more mirrorlike.

Then, before a guest stopped by, I brought one coin into work and got some 100 percent alcohol from the lab and CLEANED THE COIN.

The surface of oxide, oil and dirt was broken up and wiped away. The coin looked like a MIRROR. There you go folks, a way to QUICKLY make the coins go from merely okay to really spooky clean.

Cheers.

PS, I used laboratory grade alcohol and was careful to keep the stuff off my hands and not spill or use around any sparks or flames, and in a well ventilated area. If you get the stuff, be careful!

Coin dealers or jewellers may occasionally use an ultrasonic tank to clean very dirty coins. This loosens some surface contamination without abrasion.

If you want information on coins in general a very good site is

http://www.24carat.co.uk/

Click on the information button and you can get to such pages as

http://www.24carat.co.uk/frequentlyaskedcoinquestions.html

It's a very well written and technical site which gives also gives you the diameters, weights, thickness and colours of coins from various countries. It could be useful in deciding what coins to use for a particualar effect or just ideas in general.

There are also some useful pointers - for example the current generation of 1p and 2p UK coins are steel plated with copper. Useful for Raven's without switches for example.

The cleaning advice is written from a dealer's point of view of course. Some magic workers may well prefer the mirror finish on common dates coins for various reasons though this would decimate the worth of a rare coin

I have two product I use to polish my coins. One is called Flitz. It can be found in auto parts stores. It is a metal polish. This is good for normal coins. For silver coins I use Simichrome Polish from Happich. I bought a tube from Magic Inc. in Chicago about 15 years ago. It is still about half full. The polished state will last for years. I am not too worried about diminishing the value of the silver coins as I usually buy them from a coin shop and are not in good condition. The more the coins get used, the better they work for me.
Jim

Please note that the idea that I gave for cleaning and making your coins look good and newer does not involve any POLISHING or hard abrasive metal polishes. I noticed someone posted that polishing them removes metal and also decreases the value of the coins. Well, this is actually true. If I were to take the coins to work and POLISH them on a machine with a muslin buff and tripoli compound, or rouge, then I would be taking off the outter layer of metal of the coin. The idea of taking off the crud with a pencil eraser is NOT abrasive, and does not remove any metal. It only takes off the crap. Then I suggested to use the "Selmer" cloth. This is just a cotton cloth that is very soft and is treated to take off tarnish. It has a bit of an oily feel (But not much) and it will help shine the coin or jewelry, but it will in no way take off any metal from your coins. This is TOTALY safe to use. No harsh chemicals are involved.

Goddards Silver Dip will remove tarnish or bleach such as Domestos will apply it. I have succesfully aged coins this way. Please bear in mind (I speak as a coin dealer amongst other professions) that collectors coins should never be cleaned except with warm slighly soapy water for fear of devaluing them. It should also be noted that Silver dip is not strictly speaking a polish (it is a chemical rather than an abrasive reaction).
Hope this helps
regards
Francis

Francis,

Thanks for letting them know about the dip. I've used similar to both clean and to tarnish coins.

Yes it's amazing what some soap and water can do for most coins. I also use laboratory grade alcohol to give clean coins a mirror-like finish by getting rid of the oil coating normal handling deposits on coins.

:)

Jon

Unless the coin is grimy, I suppose the purpose of cleaning is to improve appearance/ I am not experience enough to know, however, if unseen oil from handling can also makes them a bit harder to Classic Palm? Following earlier advice in the Café, I recently got violin bow wax and Sortkwik. They improved retention.

A little apple cider vinegar does the trick for me.

EHands, get yourself some laboratory grade alcohol, and a q tip or cloth. will cut right through the grime and oil and leave you with a MIRROR finish again. Is amazing. Gets the dull oil off.

Walmart sells product called "Connoisseurs Jewelry Wipes. Comes in a red container. these are disposable wipes. Ive even used them on my copper cups and balls.