Cleaning Bullion Silver Coins and Bars Instantly

[Pete]

e-Z-est ( Jewel Luster )

 

There is a product widely sold across the USA that removes grime and toning from silver in a matter of seconds.

I have seen it clean an Eagle that was charcoal black, as if it had been in a fire, to a brilliant state.

I ended up buying the coin which looks like new.

 

It can be bought at Apmex in a 5 oz tub for $5 so it is cheap but I don't see anyone selling in the UK.

The coin shop I visited had a gallon bottle which you can get from Wizard in the USA for $30 or thereabouts.

Likely to be problems shipping Internationally as hazardous material.

 

Has anyone used this ?

 

Anyone selling it in the UK at an affordable price ?

 

I am guessing it is primarily sulphuric acid ( car battery acid ) but with other additives that make it work much better - react with silver.

I found a material safety data sheet here http://www.wizardcoinsupply.com/files/images/E-Z-Est-MSDS.pdf which would mean something to a chemist.

 

There is a Youtube video ( yawn !!! ) showing a guy cleaning 3 coins here -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nImpZ9qbK6k

 

 

 

[Danny-boy]

Interesting Pete.

I can't watch the video right now, is it a dip or something you rub on the coin?

I'd be interested to see if it had been tested on milk spots.

And I'd be interested to purchase 5oz if any of our site vendors can get hold of any with an order from apmex (assuming it is internationally shippable).

[Dave]

Hot water, silver baking foil and baking soda, + a touch of salt, look up clean silver coins on utube

[Danny-boy]

Hot water, silver baking foil and baking soda, + a touch of salt, look up clean silver coins on utube

Dave, I'm aware of this and have tried it, to varying degrees of success.

I'm up for something easier like Pete has posted.

I'd like to test it on a milk spotted maple to see if it removes the spots, and to see if it increases tarnishing in the months following.

[Pete]

This is a dip product and I am pretty certain milk spots would vanish in a few seconds.

I would like to try myself as I have a few spotty Maples.

 

The soda / foil method is okay ( but slow ) for cleaning mainly blackened sterling silver but the e-Z-est is super fast and gets rid of 100% of the black.

[Danny-boy]

Cheers Pete.

I want some!!!

[Pete]

I was thinking of making my own if it is unobtainable in the UK but reading about the active ingredient thiourea makes me worried as it is a known human carcogen and I found this extract

-

Thiourea induced skin problems caused by a silver polish were reported in a 24 yr old woman who had served as a cleaning lady in a restaurant for 2 yr. The patient presented with recurrent, very itchy vesicular eruptions on her fingertips and under the nails. Eventually the patient developed an eczematous condition on the arms, shoulders, and face, particularly on the forehead, nose and mouth areas. At work she contacted several cleaning products every day and copper and silver polishes two or three times a wk. Protective gloves did not stop the problem. Sunlight aggravated the condition. On testing she demonstrated both contact and photocontact allergy to thiourea present in a silver polish. The fact that she dipped the silverware into the silver cleaning bath accounted for the occurrence of eruptions on the tips of the fingers and under the nails.

 

The amount in e-Z-est is probably minimal as it would create all sorts of hefty law suits from users in the USA.

[Ryan AC]

There's loads of jewellery cleaner on eBay, it's pretty cheap. I've used some before and it's good stuff, I think it's pretty generic and I'd go for the cheapest one. The one I used was higher priced but it was just a pink liquid and probably just priced up because it had a better brand name on it.

[Keithoil]

I have some old silver sixpences, one was really blackened badly, I left them in a small amount of Coke Cola, it took a day and no rubbing as such, just agitation and it did remove it really well.

Keith

[derf]

e-Z-est ( Jewel Luster )

 

There is a product widely sold across the USA that removes grime and toning from silver in a matter of seconds.

I have seen it clean an Eagle that was charcoal black, as if it had been in a fire, to a brilliant state.

I ended up buying the coin which looks like new.

 

It can be bought at Apmex in a 5 oz tub for $5 so it is cheap but I don't see anyone selling in the UK.

The coin shop I visited had a gallon bottle which you can get from Wizard in the USA for $30 or thereabouts.

Likely to be problems shipping Internationally as hazardous material.

 

Has anyone used this ?

 

Anyone selling it in the UK at an affordable price ?

 

I am guessing it is primarily sulphuric acid ( car battery acid ) but with other additives that make it work much better - react with silver.

I found a material safety data sheet here http://www.wizardcoinsupply.com/files/images/E-Z-Est-MSDS.pdf which would mean something to a chemist.

 

There is a Youtube video ( yawn !!! ) showing a guy cleaning 3 coins here -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nImpZ9qbK6k

 

 

[derf]

Dave, I'm aware of this and have tried it, to varying degrees of success.

I'm up for something easier like Pete has posted.

I'd like to test it on a milk spotted maple to see if it removes the spots, and to see if it increases tarnishing in the months following.

From much personal experience, tread carefully with Maples.

 

Once wrecked they are irreversibly wrecked.

 

You might find along with other "Maple behaviour", they sometimes clear up depending on barometric conditions (no this is not a hoax).

 

The best thing I've learned about Silver Maples is DON'T touch them. No such problem with gold Maples that I've heard of.

 

I like both silver and gold Maples, so I keep them.

 

My suggestion for anyone that doesn't like them ... sell them to someone who does ... there are many. 

[derf]

 

 

[derf]

I'm a new member so I'm not up with any comments that may already have been made per this topic.

 

So my comments should be taken with that in mind.

 

My lessons have been:

 

1. Don't clean coins with numismatic value.

2. Only clean items you are prepared to damage in the event damage occurs.

3. What works for one coin (or bar) doesn't necessarily work for the next. e.g.: Canada Maples don't respond to cleaning methods in the same way many other coins do. In fact my lesson with Maples has been do not touch.

4. One product works well on one coin, and not the next. I use Goddard's Silver Dip. It works beautifully on Australian 1966 fifty cent coins (80% silver content), but not as well on 50% and 92.5% Australian pre decimal coins.

5. Ammonia, baking soda remedies. Again, experiment with items you're prepared to trash, should that occur.

 

Moral of the story ... listen to others, try many methods, keep notes and continue to learn.

 

[ChrisSilver]

Derf, when you quote someone please type your text outside of the quote bracket. So that you are only quoting text that that person actually said, this makes it clear what text is yours and what is the original author's.

Otherwise you are just creating a quote that didn't exist. Your above post is your own text I believe, but you have structured the reply so that it is within the quote bracket of Pete, making it look like those comments were made by Pete and not yourself.

[derf]

Derf, when you quote someone please type your text outside of the quote bracket. So that you are only quoting text that that person actually said, this makes it clear what text is yours and what is the original author's.

Otherwise you are just creating a quote that didn't exist. Your above post is your own text I believe, but you have structured the reply so that it is within the quote bracket of Pete, making it look like those comments were made by Pete and not yourse

[derf]

 

Thanks for being so quickly onto it and for enlightening me in a friendly manner.

 

Looking forward to many years of enjoyment on your site ... looks fantastic.

 

And can I say now, your forum's framework in my opinion is excellent.

 

I need to do it, thus

[ChrisSilver]

Derf, you have done the same thing again.

Are you using the site via the website? You just need to press quote and then type your reply underneath the grey area not within the grey area.

It could be possible that this mistake is caused by your browser, some other uses have issues with internet explorer. You can try using chrome as that works fine for all users.

[derf]

Derf, you have done the same thing again.

Are you using the site via the website? You just need to press quote and then type your reply underneath the grey area not within the grey area.

It could be possible that this mistake is caused by your browser, some other uses have issues with internet explorer. You can try using chrome as that works fine for all users.

Is this ok?

[ChrisSilver]

Yes derf, that's how a quote should look like. So it is clear that you have quoted exactly what I said and then made your own comment underneath

You don't always have to quote someone, you can just reply to a post without having to quote someone if you wish. It's your choice

[Cointreau]

I've heard that a simple pencil eraser works on milk spots. Haven't tried it yet though.

Anyway, I have a less than perfect silver buffalo that I intend to neglect. After three weeks out in the open it still shows no sign

of tarnishing. Experiment continues.

[ChrisSilver]

I wouldn't really recommend cleaning coins at all if you intend to sell. If for your own collection it's fine, but if selling you should inform the buyer that the coin has been cleaned.

Any cleaning will damage the coin (although maybe a minor amount any cleaning would create abrasions on the coins surface)

I wouldn't want to purchase a cleaned coin and would feel cheated if someone sold me a coin as if it was in perfect condition when in fact it had just been dipped in some cleaning solution.

[Ryan AC]

I agree silver coins or anything with a collectible value shouldn't be cleaned as it devalues them.

Silver bars or things bought just for the silver content with no collectible value could be cleaned if you really wanted to.

I prefer all silver not to be cleaned, I quite like a bit of age and character to it but I'm in it for the silver content, not the collectable value.

Cleaning is mainly for jewellery items or silver tableware etc. I think, not so much for collectibles.

[ChrisSilver]

I agree silver coins or anything with a collectible value shouldn't be cleaned as it devalues them.

Silver bars or things bought just for the silver content with no collectible value could be cleaned if you really wanted to.

I prefer all silver not to be cleaned, I quite like a bit of age and character to it but I'm in it for the silver content, not the collectable value.

Cleaning is mainly for jewellery items or silver tableware etc. I think, not so much for collectibles.

There are lots of people who collect bars, some people collect vintage bars. I am pretty sure they wouldn't want any cleaned bars either. It takes away the vintage look.

And I agree, that is the purpose of silver cleaner, for tablewares. But even that shouldn't be cleaned that often.

[Ryan AC]

I agree collectible bars with a nice value above the silver content you wouldn't want to clean. I was meaning more for the real non collectible silver if you really wanted to because the devaluation would be worth having it look nice and shiny to the owner. Or they was planning to keep it for so long that you're not worried about the devaluation cleaning would cause due to the gains in the silver value going up removing that loss and the item not really having any collectible value.

I've never had any tableware myself, so only ever cleaned jewellery but I'd expect that's be along the same lines like you're saying. Uncollectible cheaper items might be ok once or twice but not nice collectible pieces.

I think they use a paste type cleaner and cloth or something for tableware don't they? Maybe it retains the lacquer/varnish or something for longer I don't know.

[Pete]

For anyone interested ( small businesses or bulk purchase maybe ? ) -

 

This seller ships to the UK at a reasonable price and sells packs from 2 to 12.

Above 4 however there is an additional charge for import / export by his global shipper that negates the higher quantity savings.

I haven't worked out the unit costs but the 4 pack seems good.

Still way OTT compared to the USA domestic prices but we are in the UK - say no more !