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Murphy's Oil Soap For Cleaning Coins?

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United States
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 Posted 04/19/2016  08:29 am Show Profile   Bookmark this topic Add Thunderpaste to your friends list Get a Link to this Message Number of Subscribers
Prepping my first crusties. I have done a week in distilled water and was gonna go to olive oil next but decided to try murphy as an in between step since it is sort in the middle in terms of solubility. Anyone ever try that?
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 Posted 04/19/2016  1:12 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Skippypnb to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
No, however some of the most surprising things to "clean" coins are in drug and grocery stores. It just takes lots of time, money, and junk coins to experiment with to learn which work and which do not. New products are being made every year and I confess to be about a decade behind anyone trying the new stuff!

One of the best copper cleaning chemicals was discovered this way over twenty years ago. Oh, I already forgot what it is :(
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echizento's Avatar
United States
23731 Posts
 Posted 04/19/2016  2:25 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add echizento to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I have not heard of it being used to clean ancient coins. Unless you know what the chemical make up of the product is I would not recommend using it.
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bpoc1's Avatar
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4078 Posts
 Posted 04/19/2016  2:50 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add bpoc1 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Murphy's Oil/Soap
The main ingredient is potassium soap manufactured from vegetable oil also sodium EDTA, propylene glycol and water.
I would be leary of using this.
I do not know what the acronym EDTA is.
Edited by bpoc1
04/19/2016 5:33 pm
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Tech418's Avatar
United States
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 Posted 04/19/2016  3:00 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Tech418 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Hey guys. Isn't it frowned upon to "clean" coins? I heard that. Is it true or a certain method of cleaning? Thanks
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The Silver Searcher's Avatar
United States
1390 Posts
 Posted 04/19/2016  3:05 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add The Silver Searcher to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
Hey guys. Isn't it frowned upon to "clean" coins? I heard that. Is it true or a certain method of cleaning?


What I think is being discussed is cleaning literally hundreds of years of grime off ancient coins.

Someone who actually collects them (I don't) will have to confirm, but I think that cleaning is more acceptable and sometimes necessary for ancients than it is for, say, US coins.
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echizento's Avatar
United States
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 Posted 04/19/2016  3:10 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add echizento to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
It is acceptable to clean ancient coins.
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bpoc1's Avatar
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 Posted 04/19/2016  3:16 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add bpoc1 to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
It is acceptable to clean ancient coins.
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VisigothKing's Avatar
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 Posted 04/19/2016  4:20 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add VisigothKing to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply

Quote:
Hey guys. Isn't it frowned upon to "clean" coins? I heard that. Is it true or a certain method of cleaning? Thanks
Modern coins = generally you shouldn't. Ancient/medieval coins (this is the ancients forum) = they usually need to be cleaned because when they are found (usually in the ground or as part of a hoard) they are often dirty and need to be (properly) cleaned so they can be identified. So basically, cleaning is perfectly acceptable in the field of ancient/medieval coins when required.
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Spence's Avatar
United States
34428 Posts
 Posted 04/19/2016  7:42 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Spence to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply


Quote:
I do not know what the acronym EDTA is.


EDTA is Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. I'm not a chemist, but on the interwebs there seems to be general consensus that it bonds to metals and helps to separate non-metallic compounds from metals.

In terms of uses for MOS, according to wikipedia:


Quote:
It is also commonly used to clean black-powder weapons after use, since the lack of petroleum-based oil and the presence of vegetable oil lessens the amount of sludge that is created when cleaning black powder residues from weapons. It has also been found to efficiently remove the black powder residue that builds up on automobile wheels and hubcaps from the disc brakes.


@thunderpaste, I might leave that bottle of MOS out in your garage or under your sink and proceed with a little more caution. Just my Two Cents...
"If you climb a good tree, you get a push."
-----Ghanaian proverb

"The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed."
-----King Adz
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Numisma's Avatar
United States
4963 Posts
 Posted 04/19/2016  8:00 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Numisma to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I'm new to the concept of cleaning ancients. Can someone please post a link about how to do it the right way?
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echizento's Avatar
United States
23731 Posts
 Posted 04/19/2016  9:16 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add echizento to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Here is a good link to most of the approved methods. http://romancoin.info/complete_guid...nt_coins.htm
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Numisma's Avatar
United States
4963 Posts
 Posted 04/19/2016  10:41 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Numisma to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
Thanks. A few years ago I bought one of those 'uncleaned Roman coins' lots. I IDed a few LRB pieces as well as a Latin imitative, but everything else is pretty crusty. I think I'll try olive oil.
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echizento's Avatar
United States
23731 Posts
 Posted 04/19/2016  10:57 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add echizento to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
I am partial to using olive oil. One drawback is that it does tend to darken the coin.
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Numisma's Avatar
United States
4963 Posts
 Posted 04/19/2016  11:46 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add Numisma to your friends list Get a Link to this Reply
What would you suggest as an alternative?
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