Acceptable Coin Cleaning?

OK NumisMattyUK. It appears you don't have Acetone, may not want any, can't afford or don't know where to get it in the UK, so here are some ideas. If the coins in question are not valuable, mostly Copper, you may want to try Lemon or Orange Juice in some type of Pyrex Glass container and heat slowly. Many Citrus type juices are slightly acidic and the addition of heat should help clean off most contaminates such as the glues and dirt. Tomatoes, apples also contain slight acids. Vinegar heated also will remove some of the stuff on coins. If you try these methods you really should use a heating type glass container such as Pyrex though. Putting any coin in any solution in a metalic pan and heating it could create transfering of metalic substances from the pan to the coin. Regardless of what you use still remember that some of the material you remove will be part of the coin decreasing it's value.

I have been meaning to try Spray and Wash on some grimey non-valuable coins just to remove the oil from human hands on pocket change, then rinse throughly and air dry. first will check the spray and wash with some litmus paper I have to determine the PH. Anyone try this before?

Everyone has an opinon on the delimma of "to clean or not to clean" IMHO it is OK to "clean" a coin in terms of conserving it and protecting it from further damage, etc. I am primarily referring to coins removed from circulation which undoubtedly have much on their surfaces, I have some AU and very nice coins that over the years have developed an unsightly fingerprint directly in the center of the coin. To my mind, removing surface dirt and oils that accumulate from circulation in order to keep the coin from degrading is acceptable; as long as none of the material the coin is made out of is altered or removed.

Have heard many people recommend Acetone. I bought a can last evening to try. when I got home I ran a "unscientific" PH test using some strips from the health food store that I bought. compared against the laundry stain remover "Shout", the Shout was more akaline by about .5 than the Acetone. If acid is bad and Acetone is OK, then Shout should be better (?). I used Shout and Spray and Wash to clean my hands of grease after working on the car and it does a wonderful job in the absence of prof. hand cleaner like Go-JO.

Next I will try two similar coins with Acetone and Shout and make comparisons on results and set aside to watch over the months and years.

I just want coins from circulation that remain as pristine as possible without degradation over time, what is wrong with that if no metal is altered or removed and toning is left intact?

I agree with Just Carl, anything valuable should never be cleaned. I clean pocket change (but not copper) to make it more appealing to me, I don't like to open a folder of coins with some that have unsightly fingerprints, dirt, grime, grease, etc on them. I think the coin would degredate over time if these were allowed to remain, and since there is not great value at the present; don't think anything will be lost in the process. If pocket change can survive in circulation I don't think a mild cleaning will hurt.

I tried Acetone and Spray and wash and don't like either.

Bryan, how long did you leave the coins in the acetone? Any recommended max time?

In all this thread there is plenty of discussion of soaps, mild acids and acetone. But has anyone had much experience with ammonia? I've tried it on some heavily tarnished, common date, AU+ Peace dollars, and have found that it lightens the tarnish without having any noticeable effect on luster. It doesn't take a coin back to blast white - more like going from dark chocolate to light coffee.

In my opinion, u should never clean a coin at all. But thats just me.