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Silver question

bullshot
In 1986 I bought a new silver eagle dollar, put it in my safe deposit box and forgot about it, when we moved recently and I emptied the safe deposit box, I found the coin and it is black with tarnish, the coin was never handled.
Is there anything I can do to remove the tarnish without harming or devaluing the coin?
I bought all denominations of the gold eagle coins that were made in 1986 also because my son was born in 86.
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Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • mac10
    tarnex works with out damage
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  • TANK78Z
     The blackening is considered a flaw, and comes from improper storage and is one big devaluation to an otherwise pristine coin.
     That said , I would not clean it, cleaning it in any way can lower the value even more than it has already diminished .
    Any collector is looking at any flaw, compounding flaws really lower values. 
    Chemical cleaning can make a coin look shiney &  better to the untrained eye, but it will normally be seen by astute buyers.
    If it's a keepsake  and not to be sold then there are silver cleaners widely available [ even Flitz"] that will do a great job of making it brilliant again, and then giving it a coat or two of a high quality wax like "Renaissance" will keep it looking good for a long time.
    I still would not Clean it, but I would put it in a sealed coin capsule for the future, if of course its not already in one.
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  • truthful
    To a silver investor who knows his stuff, if you clean it with ANYTHING, he will be aware of it and the price will drop by 10-25% depending on how much damage you do. There are some plastics that will cause tarnish as you describe. It is always best to store silver in materials intended for the purpose.
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  • yoshmyster

    Dude it's a troy once of .999 silver. At the end of the day it's "worth" few bucks less than spot. Today if you were to sell it you'll get more than what you paid in '86 (give or take the inflation). Being that it's more a "keepsake" and you will not sell it, Flitz it (Tarnex smells bad and has limited use unlike Flitz) but buying a thing of either is about half what the coin is worth. You'll also need the softest cloth so you won't scratch the surface. Or find a crappy oxidized aluminum pan you no longer use in the back of the cabinet and baking soda in boiling hot water then dunk it.

    Cheapest keep it as is and make a joke of it. Like how you thought he was going to come out black or how his souls/personality is now black as this coin.

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  • bustedknee
    Keep it like it is.

    Black coins matter.
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  • chme
    Bring a pan of water to a boil, take off the heat, put sheet of aluminum foil in it, sprinkle baking soda in water, drop in coin, let soak.  Do not rub.  A dealer that can truly grade coins will note it has been cleaned, but that is not an 1800s Morgan or a proof set- it is an oz of silver.  
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