There are many coins that are very dirty and gross at times.  Here are some key instructions to maintaining your coins to clean them or keep them clean.  I do, as a fellow coin collector, strongly recommend you do not clean your coins if they really do not have to be.   Most medium to professional grade coin collectors will not clean their coins.  It is simply a rule of thumb passed on from one generation to another.  The reason is because most of the time, cleaning your coin will result in loss of value to the coin.  Most collectors however tend to ignore this basic rule.  Here are the steps to cleaning coins.  First I would like to start by telling you recommendations on what you should and should not do to your coins before and after you clean them.

Do Nots:

1. Proof coins should never be cleaned by any means, way or fashion.  They should not even be breathed upon, as this can dimish the value of  the coin alone just doing that.
2. Old coins that are in uncirculated condition should not be cleaned by you, but by a professional if you feel it must be cleaned.  They use a special dipping method and other company secrets to do so.  Amateurs should not even attempt to clean a coin like this.
3. Any coin that dates 1900 or older probably should not be cleaned.  That would be wise of you not to do so
4. Do not ever try to polish your coins with anything, there are no exceptions to that rule
5. Do not use an electrolysis method to clean your coin.  If you do not know what that is, definitely do not do that unless you feel like shocking yourself just simply do to pure ignorance.  I would never recommend anyone to do that. 
6. Do not try to heat your coin to give it a tarnished look.  This may cause irreversable damage to your coin.

Allowed:

1. You can clean coins that are in EF-40 and worse conditions granted the stock value of the coin at this grade is $40 or below.  EF-40 (Extra Fine) is a mid-grade that is right below AU-50 (Almost Uncirculated)
2. You would probably want to clean a coin if you found it in the ground or in a ditch.
3. Simple coins like Mercury Dimes and Roosevelt Dimes that are 1936 or younger and in Ef-40 to worse conditions can usually be cleaned in any general way you would like to within the realms of reason.  Obviously you would not try to clean a coin by dropping it in battery acid or sulfuric acid like I have seen some idiots do.  What a shame. 

Here are the quick steps to clean your coin a safe and easy way. 

• Use latex gloves to handle your coins you are about to clean
• Rinse coin over a sink with rubbing alchohol 90%
• Rinse coin with distilled water
• Drop coin in a cup of olive oil for about 5 to 7-days
• Use a soft gum tooth brush to rid dirt and olive oil off of coin with distilled water until clean
• Wipe off with a lint free cloth

Using this method is chemically stable and non-abrasive in nature if done properly.  Olive oil tends to absorb dirt for some reason.  That is a very convenient property for you.  The rubbing alchohol will remove any toxic or unhealthy material on the coin.  It also helps to remove impurities on the coin, like minerals that would corrode your coin.  The distilled water does not contain extra minerals, chlorine or fluoride that would cause further damage to a coin unlike regular tap water.  If you use tap water, that is on your own accord and deviation from the instructions.

Hi, I'm Bargainsforbucks3317, thanks for stopping by my corner of Ebay.  I hope this information has been helpful to you.  Please regard the current information you have read as simple, mere opinion.  It is not to be interpreted as factual information, but simply as an optional, subjective guideline.