Can anyone tell me how I can buff up silver bars? I have a couple of generics which are matt and would like to shine them up a bit, but want to be sure not to damage the silver. can you good stackers advise me on this?
Using a micro fibre cloth could work (similar to the cloths you use to clean glasses) but I doubt that would do much for cast silver. I honestly think you should just leave it as it is Whatever you do, DO NOT use Silvo or Brasso or other liquid polisher as what that does is similar to acid - it leeches the surface of the silver so that you can wipe it off with a cheese cloth and therefore it looks shiny - but in doing so you are removing a % of silver each time and therefore making it far less valuable. It's what ppl did with silver cutlery, it shined it up but eventually the silverware became eroded and brittle from constant polishing
If it is a matt finish then you would need to polish it to get it shiney, which damages the surface and removes the silver. If it is tarnished then you can make a paste out of baking soda and rub it onto the silver, won't remove any silver but will remove the tarnish. You tube has some interesting videos on tin foil being used with baking soda to remove tarnish but it won't put a smooth surface on a rough base!
Woodworkers 'spoon' their work to achieve a high lustre finish without removing material. You could try running a metalwork dolly over the bars!?
Interestingly the latest pamp 1kg bars I have bought are no longer nice and shiny like they used to be - they also suffer from a somewhat dull luste. Can anybody explain this ... How is it that the older ones are shiny and the new ones are not?
I can confirm that this is true. It would seem that PAMP SUISSE have made some adjustments to the way they are casting their 1kg brs, but i still think they look swell and are the nicest silver bars on the market. Also easily recognizable and easy to sell anywhere in the world.
If "you lose silver content" when using a polishing agent, then where does it go to? Sure as F doesn't come off on my rag, so where does it go? I wouldn't polish a numismatic coin but it's paranoia and just plain silly to watch your bullion bars get tarnished and ugly.
Well... Tarnish is usually something like silver oxide or silver sulphate, the silver has reacted with chemicals in the air. when you polish them you do not remove pure silver, you remove the oxide or the sulphate, which contains silver. That's the black stuff that comes off on your cloth. The more abrasive techniques involve sanding down the bar so all the scratches are removed and you get a nice mirror finish, polishing liquids contain abrasive particles to help achieve this. Bi carb of Soda is a chemical reaction that reduces Silver Oxide back to silver thus leaving you with shiney metal and it doesn't remove any silver. Sorry this is a bit brief, I didn't want it turning into a wiki but there probably is a wiki if you want more depth.
I'm going to weigh before and after polishing, that should be definitive proof one way or the other. I f I'm losing weight that can be measured I'll stop. Besides I rarely do it, usually when I buy a bar that looks like crap, I shine it, store it and it looks good for a long, long time. I see no need to polish often, just get it looking nice, the store it properly to keep it from getting re-oxidized.
How accurate are your scales? From what I gather the odd polishing will do nothing noticable, it is the generations of polishing that wears it down. I never clean them, I will remove grease or dirt from coins but nothing else. Tarnish is part of silver, if you don't like tarnish buy gold. Even my coins in capsules have started to tarnish. some people actually like it and you can read up on how to artifically tone silver, it takes all sorts.
If the bars are not as shiny or there are some toning this is what I did: Line a bowl with aluminium foil, put silver coin/bar in it, put bi carb soda/ baking soda on the coins, just spread it out, then pour hot water on it. Rinse and repeat until you get the shine back.
If they're bars (DON'T do this for coins!!!) a faster approach is to use bi-carb as a polishing paste - literally pour some powder on the bar, wet an old toothbrush with hot water, and scrub. Makes any silver sparkle. It does work as well with junk silver with no numismatic value (e.g. really dirty 1937 Crowns or 1966 50c), but don't try it on a Maple with milkspots - it will show up as scratches on mirror finish areas. For silver coins, a non-abrasive method is a bath in cloudy ammonia - however this will impact their numismatic value as it does alter the surface in non-pure coins (basically eats away copper).
This is the best way, you will need Vegemite, doctor pepper, bicarb soda and a copper coil...No more clues.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp62AvR7kFM[/youtube] This would work for silver bars I'd imagine.
Ditto this method, or the one suggested by geewiz. I also use washing soda crystals with foil and water for modern silver Jewellery without soft stones/pearls, which works a treat. Some silver though is better with toning, or a patina. But often cast silver will never get a glossy shine.
