Clean/Shine Silver?

[Panoptimist]

What's the best way to go about cleaning/shining silver coins/bullion?

[madfranks]

First off I'd make sure you really want to clean them. For bullion it doesn't really matter, but for numismatic silver, it's best to leave it alone. Cleaned and polished numismatic coins actually lose value compared to their natural state of toning. For bullion though, polish doesn't really matter. I've used a couple methods, first make a warm salt water solution and but a piece of tin foil in the container. Then put the tarnished silver in, and the tarnish should come off the silver and transfer to the foil. That's the best way to remove tarnish since you don't have to worry about the crevices of the coin or a cloth rubbing hairline scratches into the coin. You can also rub the coins with vinegar or lemon juice, or go to a jewelery store and buy some silver polish. You can also check out this site, there's a few more options: http://www.silver-coins.org/coin_cleaning.html

[Silver Rocket Bitches!]

Mix baking soda and water together to make a paste. Rub the mixture on the bullion with your fingers. Shines it right up.

It's slightly abrasive so don't go tryin this on any reverse cameos.

[SLV^GLD]

Once shined the silver will tend to tarnish considerably faster and more completely than before, so get used to shining it up frequently if you want it to stay shiny.