Caring for challenge coins isn\’t a right / wrong cut and dried issue. The reason is that many of the most cherished and valuable challenge coins are military coins that have been manhandled and constantly carried around, sometimes in very inhospitable environments.

The fact that they have become so personally important to someone is part of the value of the coin. If you have ended up with a challenge coin from someone in the Army or Marines or another branch of the service, and it shows its value because of the dirt, marks, or scuffs on it, you may wish to leave it exactly as it is, and this is fine. Many things besides being in mint condition influence the value of coins.

If you have a collection of challenge coins, there may be some that you want to keep in mint condition, regardless of how you choose to display or store them. With these, avoid using plastic holders that contain PVC, and avoid wrapping these coins in paper. The chemicals and acids in these materials can damage them over time.

You should also avoid extreme temperatures, like you would find in a basement or attic. Temperature extremes can affect any paint used on challenge coins, and can speed up the oxidation process, making your coins look older before their time.

When handling your special coins, consider wearing cotton gloves and only handling the coins by their edges. This will keep skin oils and dirt from coming off on the coin. Generally speaking, you should not clean them, but if you care for them properly, you probably won\’t need to anyway.

When it comes to older painted coins where the paint has deteriorated, you can have them repainted professionally. There are not many people who offer this service, and done by a serious professional, it takes time because the work can be painstaking, so be prepared to be patient while having a coin repainted.

For repainting, the coin is scanned for original color placement. Then the original color is removed from the coin and the colors are redone. It will cost up to around $25 or $30 to have it repainted depending on how many colors are needed and what techniques are used. Most commonly with old coins, recessed areas are color filled, but sometimes the raised parts of them have color too.

A qualified coin painter can tell from their detailed scan how the old coin was painted and will attempt to duplicate this as closely as possible. It is good to get a word-of-mouth recommendation for a process as specialized as this, because you don\’t want to trust the work to just anyone. In general, they cannot just fill in areas that need paint, because the newer paints won\’t perfectly match the old ones. Rather they remove the old paint and repaint it in its entirety to get the highest quality.

Like the coins themselves, challenge coin collections vary widely. What one collector may think of as \”smudges\” another may think of as evidence of the story behind it. Reading challenge coin forums is a great way to learn about how real people care for their cherished coin collections.

Author Bio: Jason Bacot – Are you looking for other like-minded people when it comes to your Challenge Coins? Are you looking into buying and selling Challenge Coins online? Then I suggest you check us out at \”ChallengeCoinForum.com immediately.

Category: Recreation
Keywords: challenge coins, military coins, police coins, challenge coin, military coin, air force coins