Using acetone to clean coins

[hazelman]

Hi all,

Ive seen a few posts recommending acetone to clean coins , i was always under the impression that one should never attempt to clean coins.

Is this a normal practice in the coin collecting world? Is it being used on any coins regardless of the metal.

Having asked the question I will still shy away from cleaning coins.

Comments on this practice would be much appreciated.

best regards

[PWA 1967]

Something i have never tried but think coinery is the best to tell you think if i remember from previous posts there are different types.

Better in the first place to buy a coin that does not need touching in my opinion

[Paulus]

I haven't tried this either, but, yes, Coinery (Stuart) can advise, and I am sure one of his pieces of advice would be to practice on a low value/low grade coin that you don't mind ruining

[Coinery]

OK, disclaimer...whilst this has never ruined one of my coins, I cannot guarantee it will never bite you on the arse.

Basically, it's a solvent that evaporates very quickly, but is brilliant for dissolving invisible grease and gunk from the surface of a coin.

I have used this on all my coins, BU copper, silver, hammered, and gold, just to remove any traces of fingerprint residue or other nasties! It's never yet affected any tone or lustre, so the coin doesn't actually LOOK any different afterwards, unless it's really grimey to start with, or had a previous wipe with some oil or other.

With some copper (BU included) and CuNi, I always feel a sense of satisfaction when I look at the cotton bud and see a light green tinge, which was invisible on the coin.

So, essentially, I don't clean the coins, I 'decontaminate' them, before sealing them up in flips!

I very carefully 'mop' the coins using cotton buds, which have been saturated in acetone which, incidentally, is not the nail-cleaning type, as this has conditioners in it. You can get 'straight' acetone from most chemists, and some supermarket that have dispensaries.

I've never mopped a proof, and I'm very aware of the hairline issue, which always shows up under artificial light (I don't know why, but tilt a coin which looks absolutely fine in daylight under a lamp, and a very different coin can often be seen), so I can reassure you that I have never added hairlines to my coins from this process, I have diligently checked.

It is my hope that these efforts will help avoid any future appearances of prints and/or stains from appearing on my coins! Hopefully?

Just to add, I always give the milling a really good mop too! Don't drop it...stand over a cushion or something!

[Coinery]

Something else to share, as I've been through a fair few bottles of the stuff now, is don't repeatedly dip the same cotton bud into the acetone! I used to do this, but found out, when knocking the last 1/8th of a bottle over one day, that all that horrible grease and gunk you've lovingly removed from your coins, has not ALL gone in the bin with your cotton buds! A fair amount of it is floating around on the top of your acetone from those multiple dips, waiting to stick to your cotton bud the next time you dip it in and make its way back onto a coin! The stuff really works, you wouldn't believe how much rubbish you can remove from 50 or so BU coins!

So, dip your cotton bud in once only, then turn it around for your next dip!

[hazelman]

Paulus - thanks

Stuart.

Most interesting ive always wondered if there is any way that i can clean prior to putting in coin capsules but everyone has advised never doing it .

Now your approach is rather interesting (decontaminating - love the reference)

If it works well i can see the benifits of doing this - i think i just may give it a go

best regards

[Coinery]

Paulus - thanks

Stuart.

Most interesting ive always wondered if there is any way that i can clean prior to putting in coin capsules but everyone has advised never doing it .

Now your approach is rather interesting (decontaminating - love the reference)

If it works well i can see the benifits of doing this - i think i just may give it a go

best regards

Try it on a couple of BU sixties pennies or farthings' first, just to reassure yourself! Do that daylight/lamp-light thing too! Look at your coins under artificial light first, pick a field, then careful wipe with a 'wet/acetone-soaked' bud and re-check for any abrasive/hairline (or hopefully not) affect on the surface! You have to be happy yourself! Don't rely on others!

[hazelman]

Good advice - in fact i was thinking of trying it on a 60's penny and 60's shilling

[sound]

Stuart,

Is absolutely correct.

In fact one could argue that is not cleaning at all, not in the sense that it is generally understood.

Azda do it in the chemist section for a £1.00 a bottle.

Mark

[Paulus]

Why don't we all do it? Maybe we should - bit scared I guess!

[VickySilver]

I do it to nearly all my coins, just make sure it is pure. Also, I tamp rather than rub with Q-tip or high nap white cotton towel. Interestingly, a totally different solvent is ammonia but this is a lot trickier - this has helped me on copper nickel better than the acetone - not used it on copper bits at all.

I kind of laugh when someone lets a coin sit in acetone and evaporate the solvent - just relayers the crap back on it!

[ozjohn]

Metho is good for degreasing coins and removing surface contaminates such as salt from fingers. Again it does no harm to the coin as far as I can see. Also helps to prevent verdigris from forming on bronze coins. Pour metho into saucer dip coin and pat dry with paper tissue. Do not wipe as abrasion may cause scratching.

[RLC35]

Metho is good for degreasing coins and removing surface contaminates such as salt from fingers. Again it does no harm to the coin as far as I can see. Also helps to prevent verdigris from forming on bronze coins. Pour metho into saucer dip coin and pat dry with paper tissue. Do not wipe as abrasion may cause scratching.

What is Metho oz?

[azda]

Metholayted spirits i guess Bob

[Rob]

Methylated.

[RLC35]

Metholayted spirits i guess Bob

Thanks guys, with that name I found out what it is called here....Denatured Alcohol!

[ozjohn]

I think metho sounds better!

[bagerap]

Acetone is available quite cheaply:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/381072726695?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=108&chn=ps&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0-L&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=108&ff19=0

[VickySilver]

Too much crystal meth about methinks to call in "metho"....LOL.

Think I might shy away from paper towels and the like with all the sulphurous compounds used in processing the paper. I still recommend the clean white towel with good nap (i.e. not old and scratchy).

[hazelman]

Coinery,

Thanks i tried it on 3 coins - the last one a 1864 penny as i was most impressed with the amount of decontamination showed up on the ear bud.

I really am impressed but must say was to afraid to to wipe the 1864 with the ear bud so i just dabbed it on /off then allowed it to dry on a lint free cloth.

What i like is that as you say i have since checked the coins very carefully and no signs of hairline scratches.

Thank you

[Kerakae]

This sounds great. Coinery, when you say "cotton bud" do you mean ear cleaners? 'Q-tips' as Americans call them. And when you say "mop", do you drop the coin into the solution first or do you dip the bud then wipe the solution over the coin?

[copper123]

You sometimes get a funny look if you ask for metho so I will stick to my good old fashioned acetone, thanks.

I discovered it years ago and the only coins i have had any bad results with are the darkened farthings 1897-1917

[Coinery]

You sometimes get a funny look if you ask for metho so I will stick to my good old fashioned acetone, thanks.

I discovered it years ago and the only coins i have had any bad results with are the darkened farthings 1897-1917

I've not experienced that, other than an occasional observation of a 'purple' bloom? Not always, mostly, in fact, and nothing I can now offensively view on my farthings of that period?

[Coinery]

This sounds great. Coinery, when you say "cotton bud" do you mean ear cleaners? 'Q-tips' as Americans call them. And when you say "mop", do you drop the coin into the solution first or do you dip the bud then wipe the solution over the coin?

OK, phew, blimey!

Right! So, yes, the ear-cleaning thingies!

Re the mopping, it was a term I used to differentiate from the term 'scrub'!

Essentially, I saturate a bud and swab the area as much as I dare, and this is determined by the coin (hammered, BU 20th C), and also from my personal experience. Now, the personal experience bit comes from the artificial light thing I spoke of and, essentially, a decision about what moves the coin between desirabilities? What I mean by this is, would you decontaminate a little more aggressively on a C1 farthing punctuation to better reveal it, for the overall historical value, and personal (maybe commercial) value of the coin, against the gentle acetone 'wash' of a BU e7 penny?

I confess to 'wiping' my coins with a Q tip saturated (soggy) with acetone, and have arrived at how vigorously I can do this on account of my watching the effects on lesser coins! Please don't use daylight as your measure for hairlines! Use artificial light!

Everyone, get a lamp, a cheap BU coin, and check out the effects of a Q tip on the surface!

For myself, I have never noted an affect! Also, I consider, re acetone, that I've preserved the present state of a coin by preventing further 'undisclosed' deterioration!

To further add, I'd happily give a man a Qtip, a hammered coin, 24hrs, and defy him to show me a difference! For every coin thereon in, it's a measure of gentle respect thereof!

Love coins!

[Peckris]

Metho is good for degreasing coins and removing surface contaminates such as salt from fingers. Again it does no harm to the coin as far as I can see. Also helps to prevent verdigris from forming on bronze coins. Pour metho into saucer dip coin and pat dry with paper tissue. Do not wipe as abrasion may cause scratching.

Or surgical spirit will do it too.