James,
I hear that silver spiked again today. I'm very glad I took your advice
and bought a half-bag of junk silver last month! It was as easy as
you say. I just called the local coin dealer with the biggest ad in
the yellow pages. Their price was about $200 cheaper than Swiss America's.
Would it be worth the bother to clean the coins? Virtually all of the
coins are quite dirty. My main purpose in storing these coins will
be for future barter, if necessary. I'm guessing they would be more
attractive for barter if cleaned up.
If I were to clean them, I would just use one of the commercial liquid
cleaners commonly available at the local kitchen store for cleaning
sterling silver. Any advice on which ones would be safe for junk silver?
Maybe some of your readers have already figured out the cheapest and
safest method.
Also, one observation. Even though I live in a large metropolitan area
(Los Angeles) with millions of people, the dealer was confused at first
at what I wanted, so I had to be very specific. This tells me virtually
no one in my area is looking for junk silver. It kind of implies junk
silver is still not on the public's radar, or worse, no one is really
preparing for anything.
And finally, yes, I'm leaving Los Angeles as soon as I can!
Always Learning More, - Rookie
JWR Replies: Coin collectors almost universally
frown on polishing, chemical dipping, or buffing coins.
(The latter is called "whizzing" by numismatists.) I recognize
that "junk" silver coins currently have little, if any, collector's
value.
But consider the following. First: You never know what coins
have been overlooked before any given bag is run the coin counting
machine. There
might be a scarce coin (mint date, mint mark, or unusual strike.) Second:
In a few generations, the consensus view of what
constitutes "junk"
may change considerably. So for the sake of your grandkids, it
is best not to polish or dip your coins. Third: You stand
to gain virtually nothing by polishing coins if your intended use is
barter based on their silver bullion content. They
are supposed to
look old. In the eyes of most potential traders, "old and grungy"
means genuine. (New/shiny looking coins might be more suspect
as counterfeit.)
