How To Clean Tar And Ink From Coins ?

Hi Boston
my standard recommended action is "dont clean"!
however if it really gets to you as it does to me whenever I see goo and tar it goes like this:

If its an expensive coin, and the country, denomination & year is readable, dont clean, just sell it and let the new owner take the risk or keep as is

if it gets to you, use an ear cotton bud with acetone, when the goo or tar is gone faint rubbing lines may apear.

The goal is one micron thickness off at a time, there is no shortcuts like soaking or brushing etc. So be mentally prepared to be patient, always checking every 4-5 rubs

The result would either be great or a disaster, either way the gunk will be gone, and if you dont miss the gunk, then it'll be great

hope that helps

It needs to be clarified that you should rinse with fresh acetone, not water.

Goo Gone... https://goccf.com/t/106558

For any of the members interested in drilling down a bit further into these exotic type of chemicals' characteristics I extracted the following verbiage from the Goo-Gone MSDS (material safety data sheet):
-----------------
Inhalation: May cause headache, nausea, drowsiness, central nervous system depression, convulsions and loss of consciousness.
Flash Point: 186 F (86 C)
Autoignition Temperature : > 450 F
Extinguishing Media: Foam, carbon dioxide, and dry chemical.
Leak and Spill Procedure: Evacuate area and turn off all sources of ignition.
Conditions to Avoid: Sources of ignition.
Incompatible Materials: Avoid contact with oxidizers.
----------------
I know it may be overkill to even mention this stuff but no one reading this can now ever complain that they were never informed.

An oxidizer (hydrogen peroxide or certain certain types of acids...) is a chemical substance that can have the tendency to provide excess oxygen when exposed to higher temps. Consequently, these types of chemicals can potentially be a fire and/or explosion hazard when they come in contact with combustible types of materials: ie.: plastics, paper, wood, etc.

Just when you thought you were out of the woods with the OK to use this type of product isn't it also nice to know that even weak sources of ignition like static electricity or friction are capable of generating a sufficient amount of heat energy to ignite these combinations of combustible materials and oxidizers.

I am not implying that it is necessary to be grounded with a wrist strap or showered with positive and negative ions via air deionization equipment but it certainly would not hurt at a minimum to always keep a fan pulling the vapor away from the work area when using Goo-Gone.

fyi,
mdpmedia

Be VERY careful following internet "advice". There are literally thousands of wrongs and half truths lurking in the shadows. 99% of what you read will cause permanent damage to your coins.....so far this thread is no different.

When starting any conservation project, follow the solvent polarity ladder. Soak for a couple of hours in the following solvents. Be sure to rinse well with the SAME solvent at the end of the soaking. Stop when the desired results are obtained at any stage.

1) distilled water
2) acetone
3) xylene

For the average Joe, these are the only three readily available and coin safe solvents. NEVER use household cleaners, detergents, soaps, olive oil, lemon juice, Brasso or ANY of the other crap generally recommended by the masses. They all will lead to a ruined coin.

BadThad,
It's definitely not verdigris.
It's actually green felt pen ink and the culprit is sitting on the floor beside me - my god-daughter; the coin is out of her dad's box of oddments.

I would be reluctant to try your product without a list of ingredients and presumably that's confidential.
Also, I'm not in the US at the moment and probably couldn't import it.

I've yet to try on the tarred coin.