Cleaning PVC Damage On Bronze Coins

The difference is silver dollars don't get verdigris except under extremely rare circumstances.

Another green is leather crud, where leather has deteriorated. It will come off with your fingernail.

Also remember that nail polish remover is acetone plus a bunch of other crap like fragrances, softeners, etc. NEVER use it to clean coins.

The reason the standard rule is "Don't clean coins" is because the first step is to know what it is you're trying to remove.

In most cases, you'll do far more irreversible damage by cleaning a coin the wrong way than you'll ever improve it. Not to mention wasting your time instead of letting the buyer deal with it.

I have a bottle of that MS70 stuff.It is just an industrial strength soap.I have tried it on verdigris copper.You let it soak for a few minutes and massage with a q-tip.It removed most of the green but left the toning ok...I tried it on a spare Peace dollar that had black crap all over it and it made it look much better,not like it was dipped.I don't think I would ever use it on any of my Special coins though...

But you failed to mention how nice the coins could end up smelling. And just what is wrong with a soft coin?
Meanwhile, just to play safe, try the safest, cheapest, methods first. Since you may already have the Acetone, try leaving it in a little longer. Now here is something I read but it never worked for me. Placing your coin in Acetone in a clear glass container and placing it in the sun light.
Try a soaking in distilled water. Again, nothing to loose and you can always use distilled water for other things.
Additional attempts to remove that contamination may result in permanent damage but if you insist on trying, here are a few other things that may or may not work. A little Lemon or Lime Juice, or Tomato Juice or even Ketchup. Now the problem here is these items are acidic so the mild acid may remove that stuff but will make the entire coin looked cleaned. Some people swear by using Olive Oils to remove junk on coins. I usually swear at them though.
I repeat that the removal of the stuff on your coin may proof to be a bad mistake.

Thanks for the input everyone!

NumisMattyUk- interesting. I have never tried to smell it. hmmm

Watering plants will get you very little growth. Plants usually need the garbage in tap water but not the salts from a water softener.


Not sure but possibly if the PVC is brown or black it may have been made in a Mars Candy factory.


Sounds like the coin is getting tired of being played with and sends out that color to make you irritated.
That is odd though. Are you sure it's not the lighting? Also, if distilled water and Acetone will not remove a contamination on a coin, additional more sever solutions will probably do more damage. The contamination sounds like it is now part of the coin and removing it will leave gauges or hollowed out places where that contamination was.
So further attempts to remove any contaminations depends on the actual value of any coins. I've had fantastic luck with jewlery cleaners from Walmart in removing fingerprints from Copper coins. HOWEVER, those were rather recent prints I would suspect since prints on coins for a long time usually etch themselves into the coins.
Your now at the point of trying all those items people try when the value of a coin is of no concern. Lemon Juice, Tomato Juice, Olive Oils, Vinegar and just about anything else around the kitchen. Just remember if the coins start to smell good, don't eat them.