Cleaning Coins

Some of the coins I have been given over the years are dirty and dull. As a beginner in collecting coins I am not sure if I should clean them. Some advice please.

Short answer no, especially if you want to sell them. If they just have dirt on them rinsing in lightly soapy water cleaning in distilled water and dry patting does often no harm.
If they are worthless common coins do as you please with them they are easily replaceable just don't expect anybody to take polished coins off of you .

Thank you for your reply to my post. I thought that might be the case with regards to not cleaning. I have two British coins I believe to be silver. One date 1738 and the 1836. Although the detail on the coins are readable they are both very dark in colour so I assume that they should be left uncleaned?

Also, perhaps you could help with another question. I may have the opportunity of some Roman coins that are encrusted having been in the ground a while. What would be the best way to reveal the coins under the crusted surface?

If it’s dirt then a dip in acetone will help without damaging the coins patina

Thanks for the help

Pictures would help to get a better answer.

For the British silver, my guess is that you should leave them alone. That dark tarnish is sometimes called a patina, and sometimes collectors will actually pay MORE for a coin that looks like that than if you remove it. Desirable appearance is a very subjective thing. If your coin is worn and you remove the patina, the result will be immediately obvious (and ugly) to an experienced collector, and you may lose a significant part of the value of your coin. On the other hand, there are also inexperienced collectors who think "the shinier the better," and sometimes you get lucky and one of them comes along.

Encrusted Roman coins are something else, and you can probably find an old thread out here with suggestions on how to deal with them.

Verweis : "tdziemia"​Pictures would help to get a better answer.
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​For the British silver, my guess is that you should leave them alone. That dark tarnish is sometimes called a patina, and sometimes collectors will actually pay MORE for a coin that looks like that than if you remove it. Desirable appearance is a very subjective thing. If your coin is worn and you remove the patina, the result will be immediately obvious (and ugly) to an experienced collector, and you may lose a significant part of the value of your coin. On the other hand, there are also inexperienced collectors who think "the shinier the better," and sometimes you get lucky and one of them comes along.
​
​Encrusted Roman coins are something else, and you can probably find an old thread out here with suggestions on how to deal with them.

​correct I have a beautiful Edward VI shilling, the patination is very dark almost navy blue but no way would I clean it. It would be akin to heresy to destroy centuries of patina just to have a shiny coin,

Thank you for the replies. Very helpful.

For cheap crusty Roman electrolysis is often used but if you don't know your way around electricity I wouldn't recommend it.
Another way would be a low acid olive oil bath up to several months.
There are many sites on the net concerning this topic.

Thank you for your reply