Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why not just use a mild acid instead of an abrasive? I remember being delighted as a kid that ketchup made pennies shiny!
Borax isnt terribly abrasive though
The bird shot is another matter
Coin washer keeps Westin St. Francis' change shiny (2010)
21–30 of 119 posts
Re: Coin washer keeps Westin St. Francis' change shiny (2010)
#22How many pay with cash at a hotel? I'd expect it to be very low — large bills, often paid for by a company credit card or in advance online.
For the hotel bill itself, I agree that most people will pay via credit card, but I've seen plenty of people paying cash for incidentals at the front desk (snacks, drinks, etc) as well as at the hotel restaurant/bar.
There are plenty of times people who are traveling do not want a digital record of their payments for things such as alcohol or "food for two"
Re: Coin washer keeps Westin St. Francis' change shiny (2010)
#23As a rare coin collector, washed pieces are worth far, far, less.. cleaning coins makes them shiny but also wears off important details. I can't help but be slightly mortified by the mass-cleaning of coins.. >Along with the coins, the burnisher is filled with water, bird shot to knock the dirt off, and a healthy pour of 20 Mule Team Borax soap. After three hours of swishing the coins around, Holsen uses a metal ice s…
Not sure who's downvoting you, but I came here to say exactly this, and you're exactly right! All my numismatic spidey sense twitched when I read the story. I remember one of the first things I learned was that counter to instincts, cleaning coins with manual abrasives is bad bad bad.
What about ultrasonic washing? The machines sold for cleaning jewellery? Are they okay?
Re: Coin washer keeps Westin St. Francis' change shiny (2010)
#24As a rare coin collector, washed pieces are worth far, far, less.. cleaning coins makes them shiny but also wears off important details. I can't help but be slightly mortified by the mass-cleaning of coins.. >Along with the coins, the burnisher is filled with water, bird shot to knock the dirt off, and a healthy pour of 20 Mule Team Borax soap. After three hours of swishing the coins around, Holsen uses a metal ice s…
I shudder reading that, as a fellow collector.
Re: Coin washer keeps Westin St. Francis' change shiny (2010)
#25As a rare coin collector, washed pieces are worth far, far, less.. cleaning coins makes them shiny but also wears off important details. I can't help but be slightly mortified by the mass-cleaning of coins.. >Along with the coins, the burnisher is filled with water, bird shot to knock the dirt off, and a healthy pour of 20 Mule Team Borax soap. After three hours of swishing the coins around, Holsen uses a metal ice s…
Maybe this is the perfect job for a coin collector. Lets assume this coin washer already knows this and is allowed to sift through every coin that comes through a fancy hotel before washing all the plebeian coins.
Re: Coin washer keeps Westin St. Francis' change shiny (2010)
#26As a rare coin collector, washed pieces are worth far, far, less.. cleaning coins makes them shiny but also wears off important details. I can't help but be slightly mortified by the mass-cleaning of coins.. >Along with the coins, the burnisher is filled with water, bird shot to knock the dirt off, and a healthy pour of 20 Mule Team Borax soap. After three hours of swishing the coins around, Holsen uses a metal ice s…
> As a rare coin collector, washed pieces are worth far, far, less.. cleaning coins makes them shiny but also wears off important details.
But the hotel isn't going to devote the kind of effort that would be necessary to realize any collectable value of the coins, whereas shining the coins they handle is literally (if only very slightly) burnishing their image.
Re: Coin washer keeps Westin St. Francis' change shiny (2010)
#27Season 7 of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel showed this in action (I still enjoy reruns of Dirty Jobs)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dirty_Jobs_episodes#...
Re: Coin washer keeps Westin St. Francis' change shiny (2010)
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
For the hotel bill itself, I agree that most people will pay via credit card, but I've seen plenty of people paying cash for incidentals at the front desk (snacks, drinks, etc) as well as at the hotel restaurant/bar.
There are plenty of times people who are traveling do not want a digital record of their payments for things such as alcohol or "food for two"
Why would anyone want a digital record of any of their payments? By default?
EDIT: I should have clarified that I was thinking of a digital record in someone else’s possession. Having a record of your own transactions yourself could certainly be useful.
Re: Coin washer keeps Westin St. Francis' change shiny (2010)
#29Re: Coin washer keeps Westin St. Francis' change shiny (2010)
#30As a rare coin collector, washed pieces are worth far, far, less.. cleaning coins makes them shiny but also wears off important details. I can't help but be slightly mortified by the mass-cleaning of coins.. >Along with the coins, the burnisher is filled with water, bird shot to knock the dirt off, and a healthy pour of 20 Mule Team Borax soap. After three hours of swishing the coins around, Holsen uses a metal ice s…
This reminds me of video game collectors complaining when games get played as the cartridges get scratched. I think collectors need to accept the reality of what they collect. Games are meant to be played, and coins generally need to be cleaned.