Coin Care 101: How to Clean Silver Coins

Although the value of your silver coins stays relatively consistent, their condition does not. Over time, your silver coins and bars may lose color. While a little bit of tarnish will not affect your silver’s metal value, it can significantly bring down resale value. Silver dealers and individual buyers are far more likely to purchase clean, well-kept coins.

The information below will give you an easy step-by-step process on how to clean silver coins. You won’t get every speck of tarnish off the metal, but these techniques will have your coins looking fresh.

Can You Clean Any Silver Coin?

While you can clean all common silver coins, you should be careful when cleaning rare old coins. Rare collectibles are incredibly delicate, and any misguided attempt at cleaning them might jeopardize their worth.

Why Do You Need to Clean Silver Coins?

When silver reacts to certain gases in the air, such as sulfur, it can create a dark-colored layer known as tarnish on your silver coin’s or bar’s surface. Whenever there is tarnish on your coins, it can leave your hands feeling sticky and smelling metallic after touching them.

While there are numerous debates among the bullion buyer community about whether or not it’s a good idea to clean your silver coins, this post is to help any coin collector who hates having their coins covered in tarnish and wants to do something about it.

All the steps below on how to clean silver coins only require items you can find at home. If your silver coins are not rare collectibles, then the cleaning process is much more comfortable. These techniques are not only great for cleaning silver coins but any other silver material such as jewelry, silverware, silver bars, etc.

A Few Warnings Before You Start Cleaning

Keep these in mind before you begin cleaning your silver coins:

1. Never try and clean rare silver coins at home. It would be best if you did not clean rare silver coins with Numismatic important dates, as their wear and tear add to their value
2. The methods below might produce harmful fumes, so wear a mask or try not to inhale too much at once
3. Keep your coins in a secure area during the cleaning process. It can be easy to misplace or damage your coins if you are not careful

Cleaning Silver Coins with Baking Soda

Things You Will Need:

• Silver coins
• Hot water
• Baking soda
• Paper towels
• A simple container (cooking pan or plastic container is fine)
• Latex gloves
• Toothbrush
• Aluminum foil
• A container full of clean water for rinsing

How to Clean Silver Coins with Baking Soda

The following is one of the easiest and effective ways to clean your cold coins, rounds, or bars.

Step 1: Cover Your Container Using Aluminum Foil

Use either side of the aluminum foil to line your container completely. Make sure to leave little or no gaps, if possible. You may need to add a few layers of foil.

Step 2: Add Baking Soda

Generously sprinkle baking soda over the layer of aluminum foil. Keep adding baking soda until you can no longer see the aluminum foil on the bottom of the container.

Step 3: Add Your Dirty Silver Coins

Place your silver coins in the center of the container with the side with the most tarnish facing up. If both sides contain a fair amount of tarnish, you will need to repeat the process to clean either side.

Step 4: Sprinkle More Baking Soda and Add Hot Water

Add more baking soda to the container. Make sure there is enough to cover your coins completely. Then, add hot water to the container until all your silver coins are submerged. After you pour the water, add another pinch of baking soda to the silver coins. Keep your coins soaking for at least 5 to 10 minutes. The more tarnish on your coins, the longer they will need to soak.

Step 5: Lightly Scrub the Tarnish from Your Coins

Grab your latex gloves and lightly scrub your coins using the baking soda and water blend. This step requires you to be careful because scrubbing too hard can scratch your coins, and you do not want that. Make sure to thoroughly clean each part of the coin and remove as much tarnish as possible.

Step 6: Rinse with Cold Water

After scrubbing, rinse your silver coins in cold water. If you still see any tarnish, add more baking soda, and repeat step 5. This step is crucial because neglecting to rinse your coins can lead to white spots on the surface.

Step 7: Visually Examine Your Coins

Check over your coins to see if there is any tarnish left over. If you notice your coins are not immaculate, repeat the necessary steps until your coins are desirable.

Cleaning Silver Coins with Fabric Softener

Things You Will Need:

• Silver coins
• Hot water
• Fabric softener
• Table salt
• Paper towels
• A simple container (cooking pan or plastic container is fine)
• Latex gloves
• Toothbrush
• Aluminum foil
• Clean water for rinsing

How to Clean Silver Coins with Fabric Softener

Here is another simple and effective technique to get your silver coins looking good as new.

Step 1: Line the Container with Aluminum Foil

Use the aluminum foil to cover the bottom of the container completely. Make sure to evenly distribute the foil and try not to leave any gaps. Add a second layer if necessary.

Step 2: Add Fabric Softener and Table Salt

Take your fabric softener and iodized table salt and sprinkle them over the aluminum foil. Make sure to obscure the foil completely.

Step 3: Add Your Silver

Gently place your silver coins, rounds, or bars on top of the fabric softener and salt blend.

Step 4: Fill the Container with Hot Water

Completely submerge your coins in hot water. Let your silver sit in the mixture for at least 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how much tarnish there is.

Step 5: Gently Scrub Your Silver Coins with a Toothbrush

Put on your latex gloves and use your disposable toothbrush to scrub off the tarnish gently. Although it might be your first instinct, try not to scrub too hard. Otherwise, you could scratch your coins, which will further ruin their appearance.

Step 6: Rinse Your Silver Coins with Cold Water

After scrubbing your coins, rinse them with cold water to remove any excess tarnish or debris. If you notice your coins are not clean enough, repeat steps 4 and 5.

Step 7: Examine your Coins

Thoroughly check your silver coins to see if you missed any spots. If everything checks out, you can now enjoy your new-looking silver coins.

Alternative Cleaning Methods

Toothpaste

Who would have thought toothpaste is not just for cleaning your pearly whites? Toothpaste has similar properties as silver polish. While it should not be your go-to choice, toothpaste is an inexpensive way to clean your silver coins in a pinch.

Lemon Juice

The intense acidic content in lemon juice works as an excellent helper for breaking down tarnish, grime, and other nasty compounds found on your silver coins. However, you might not want to use lemon juice to clean rare collectible coins.

The Freeze and Clean Method

Freezing your silver coins can help remove dirt and tarnish. Fill up a container with water, gently place your silver coins inside, and put it in the freezer. The freezing water makes your silver coins expand, causing the dirt and grime to fall off.

Olive Oil

This technique requires some time, but if you do it correctly, it produces an excellent result. Place your silver coins in a container filled with olive oil and let them sit. When you see the oil has become black, swap it out for new oil and repeat this process for the next three months, or until the tarnish is gone.

An Ultrasonic Cleaner

An ultrasonic cleaner is commonly found in banks, jewelry stores, and almost anywhere that sells precious metal. This is the safest way to clean both common and collectible coins. The machine uses sound vibrations to remove dirt and grime from coins and other metal items.

An ultrasonic cleaner is one of the only ways to remove all the dirt and grime from your silver coins entirely. It can get all those problem areas around the edges and leave your coins looking brand new.

Conclusion

Keeping your silver coins clean and free of tarnish is not tricky if you use the right technique. Always make sure you handle your coins with care, as they can easily scratch while using any of the above methods.

Also, be especially careful when handling rare collectible silver coins. It is better to leave them alone than to try and clean them on your own. As mentioned above, rare coins hold more value when they are left untouched.

Try out these methods for cleaning silver coins, and let us know how it goes. For more information and guides on silver and other precious metals, check out some of our other posts.