OK How Bad Did I Screw This Up ?

Hi Grovey, slow down and take a deep breath! Don't be to mad, I'm sure your friend was trying to help. Acetone seems to be the "chemical" of choice these days, but not for everything.

Study the coin and observe what has occured to the surface so far. Acetone may not be the best choice for nickel. Cleaning coins is almost never the way to go, but leaving PVC on a coin can cause further damage. That being said, and since you have already started, try this....

Use clean, warm, soapy,( mild dish soap is good) distilled water and a soft toothbrush. If that does not work, tougher stains can be removed with ammonia, diluted 3 to 1 with distilled water. Rinse thouroghly with distilled water and pat dry with a soft cloth. Leave it exposed to the air on a soft cloth, making sure you turn it over several times during drying to allow it to dry completely on both sides. You may have to repeat this several times to remove all the residue. Always try the most minimal approach first! Good luck, I hope this helps... Mike

Sorry but I still say NEVER do anything to enhance a coin, you'll only hurt it. The chance of the coin looking better for the short term is a slim possibility, versus the chance of FOREVER removing the coins originality, which happens virtually all the time.
Some people say they don't mind cleaning their coins because "I never intend to sell it" or "It's a low value coin anyway" but try to take a longer view. 200 years from now there will still be collectors who want nice original pieces and we're robbing these future collectors every time we try to doctor a coin.
Soap and water is cleaning and is easily detected.
Nick

c/o Rant for the day, inc :)

Tradernick, ND, I agree that cleaning is almost never the way to go. I said so in my post. Better he learns on a $5.00 coin than a $500.00 coin. The rule of thumb still stands. Clean only if it is for conservation. The suggestion of soap and water cleaning being detectable or not was not the issue. It was merely one that was least likely to do additional damage.

To me there is a distinction between cleaning an uncirculated coin, and one that has the metal already degraded by circulation. Coins in circulation are exposed to finger grease, running through the washer and dryer, weather, spills, sweat, rubbing other coins, vending machines, coin counters, wishing wells, swimming pools, laying in the grass, lost at the beach and a myriad of other things that act as "cleaners". The longer its out there, the more likely it will wear the "cleaned" tag someday. Mike

The key to properly cleaning coins is to know which coins you can clean and which ones you can't.

catman

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Originally posted by catman

The key to properly cleaning coins is to know which coins you can clean and which ones you can't.

catman

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I agree and would like to add you have to know which you have to clean and which you have to leave alone
I only preserve coins my cleaning days are over
Like this week I got a 175 year old gold 40 FF Charles X
Under the closest inspection the coin did not look cleaned ( 10X led magnification ) but it must have been because there was green plasticizer rot from pvc in the kings ear and only the ear which is one of the lowest points on the coin
A dip would have removed that a wiping cleaning not
I had to soak it in acetone for four days before the green rot was completely removed
It still looks uncleaned and sits in a mylar holder in the bank now

quote:

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Originally posted by catman

The key to properly cleaning coins is to know which coins you can clean and which ones you can't.

catman

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Sorry but my thoughts, and the belief of any dealer worth his salt AND the majority of experienced collectors, is always going to be Don't Clean Coins. Don't clean the ones you think you can't. And don't clean the ones you think you can...it's easily detected and will hurt the value and earn the coin the title of "cleaned" forever.
Nick

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Originally posted by Susanlynn9



I still maintain that PVC should be removed if it is on the surface of a coin.

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I agree and on an inexpensive coin like that, you aren't oing to send it to NCS. ;)

Having said that, I don't clean coins if it takes more than water and a soggy toothpick and I haven't done that but once or twice to get a particular piece of gunk off.

I will either shy away from buying a coin that needs to be conserved in the first place or sell it off as it is if I happen to end up with one. I don't trust myself to mess with it, don't trust the people who might mess with it for me for free, and none of the coins would be worth paying a pro to do it.

but id only do thison coins ware you cant read anything, like my roman coins have been in the ground for thousands of years and have thousands of years of gunk on them unlike that nickel. so if you read and seee most of it dont clean it.