Best Way to Remove Scratches from NGC slabs?

[Amazon-migration]

What's the best way to remove scratches from NGC slabs? I've had people tell me different methods but no one tried them on actual NGC slabs. I have a slab that has a few light scratches and a couple of medium ones. What would be the best way to get rid of them? I've tried toothpaste and novous on another NGC slab and they got rid of the scratches but left tiny hairlines all over the whole slab.

 

Thank You!

[kryptonitecomics]

What's the best way to remove scratches from NGC slabs? I've had people tell me different methods but no one tried them on actual NGC slabs. I have a slab that has a few light scratches and a couple of medium ones. What would be the best way to get rid of them? I've tried toothpaste and novous on another NGC slab and they got rid of the scratches but left tiny hairlines all over the whole slab.

 

Thank You!

 

 

Sometimes this method works and sometimes it doesn't. I tried it recently on a large cent and it must have been some bad plastic becuase the same thing happen to me....tiny circular hairlines. Most folks use some type of plastic polish like the type that is used on convertable car back windows. Slab renew is also available....... (thumbs u

[Bruceswar]

Slab renew is good

[physics-fan3.14]

I learned yesterday that using acetone to remove sticker residue on the surface of a slab was a bad idea. I guess it should have come as no surprise, but I guess my common sense was out for lunch. Luckily, it was at the top of the reverse, so none of the plastic immediately over the coin was affected.

[ant]

I learned yesterday that using acetone to remove sticker residue on the surface of a slab was a bad idea. I guess it should have come as no surprise, but I guess my common sense was out for lunch. Luckily, it was at the top of the reverse, so none of the plastic immediately over the coin was affected.

[BankNote1]

I have tried several plastic polishes even Slab Renew! Slab Renew works well on PCGS, the old white ANACS, and the very old NGC gold imprint holders. I asked NGC about their holders and they are replacing the outer plastic shell with the new NGC holder! I didn't find out if anyone would be able to polish the holder without getting the tiny hairlines.

Not enough collectors have complained about the outer clear shell on NGC slabs for NGC to have worried about it. Also I think NGC wants everyone to send in their scratched up holders and pay to get them replaced. It puts money in NGC's pockets to have a POS outside clear shell!!

 

To remove gunk from tape residue or a sticker on a coin slab use Goo Gone! It works and doesn't hurt the slab. Acetone is good for removing gunk or glue from coins not plastic holders!!!

[Amazon-migration]

Thanks for the comments everyone. Originially I was going to send it out to reslab it, but I have a short time line before they start using the four prongs (yuck). I guess I might as well try it with the automotive scratch remover since it's going to get reholdered anyways if that doesn't work.

[just-john]

good rule of thumb if it comes in a metal can it's not to good with plastic

[PerryHall]

good rule of thumb if it comes in a metal can it's not to good with plastic

 

Brasso comes in a metal can and it's good for removing scratches from slabs.

[BankNote1]

Does Brasso leave those tiny hairlines that everything else does on the NGC holders? If it doesn't I will need to get some.

[ant]

what is the stuff for glasses that fixes scratches? would that work?

[pendragon1998]

Any abrasive will leave hairlines - you can minimize them by using the finest particle size abrasive you can locate and by controling the direction of the hairlines so that they don't show up as badly in photos.

 

I have had good luck using an automotive product called PlastX by Meguiar's

It was recommended to me by Mark Goodman. I put a tiny dab on the slab and polish hard with a clean terry cloth in the direction I intend to light the slab when photographing it. When done, I wipe it carefully clean and wait until I can't smell the (somewhat minty) scent of the PlastX before storing the coin again.

 

[Mozin]

It is nice to know that I am not the only one bothered by hairlines in the newer NGC holders, and I mean reholdered coins. On several brand new reholders, there were marks that I tried to polish out, only to make it worse by ending in hairlines everywhere. NGC is using some poor quality clear plastic these days.

 

PCGS clear plastic on their holders is much better than NGC uses.

[ant]

i think its easier to scratch the pcgs than ngc but i dont deal much in pcgs.

[BankNote1]

PCGS slabs are easier to scratch also they are easier to polish up! Also usually there aren't any hairlines after polishing.

I have found that on NGC holders don't polish in circles go straight up and down to get better photos. NGC holders can be a pain. Got my last two coins back from NGC and both holders were scratched over the coin area! I guess I am supposed to mail them back and pay more fees to get them re-slabbed!!! Bummer.

[MarkFeld]

It is nice to know that I am not the only one bothered by hairlines in the newer NGC holders, and I mean reholdered coins. On several brand new reholders, there were marks that I tried to polish out, only to make it worse by ending in hairlines everywhere. NGC is using some poor quality clear plastic these days.

 

PCGS clear plastic on their holders is much better than NGC uses.

I know next to nothing about plastic, but I don't believe the fact that it easily acquires/shows hairlines necessarily means it's of "poor quality". And how the plastic helps preserve the coin is a much more important consideration.

[physics-fan3.14]

It will be interesting to see how the new slabs do with scratches. By the sounds of it, it is a completely different kind of plastic. Hopefully, it will be more scratch resistant.

[tenacious]

I learned yesterday that using acetone to remove sticker residue on the surface of a slab was a bad idea. I guess it should have come as no surprise, but I guess my common sense was out for lunch. Luckily, it was at the top of the reverse, so none of the plastic immediately over the coin was affected.

 

Slightly OT.

 

I've used Un-Du Adhesive Remover to remove stickers from slabs and they come off clean without any harm to the plastic. Un-Du is the best adhesive remover I've found. It's worked on every adhesive and stuck label I've tried. But it has never harmed what I'm taking the sticker off of. I don't know how it does that. I've even used it to remove stuck price tags on paperback book covers. The tags came off with no damage to the paperback covers.

 

Tip: Squirt a few drops on a Q-tip, or clean cloth, to work onto sticker. Squirting directly onto sticker it's easy to use too much.

 

I've seen it sold in many stores or get it online.

 

Disclaimer: I have no connection whatsoever with Un-Du.

[jgrinz]

Goo Gone works fine for me - I think I saw it mentioned earlier.

 

[Conder101]

Any abrasive will leave hairlines - you can minimize them by using the finest particle size abrasive you can locate and by controling the direction of the hairlines so that they don't show up as badly in photos.

True, but it is very difficult to get out larger marks with a very fine abrasive. So some plastic polished come as two or even three step processes with a coarser abrasive in the first step to remove heavy marks and then a second or final buffing step that uses a much finer abrasive.

 

The early NGC slabs seem to have less trouble with scratches and the reason for that was that the early slabs were had the same type of anti-scratch coating that they use on plastic eyeglass lenses. (This is from information I got from NGC when I was working on the first edition of the slabbook.)