Sonic Bath Jewelry Cleaner? - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 1,463
Yokozuna Pillar of the Community United States 4618 Posts	Posted 09/02/2013 03:37 am Has anyone had any luck in ~~cleaning~~ removing deposits of gunk, dirt or any of the other things that build up on coins over the years? It's a plastic basket and it shouldn't scratch the coin. If you have tried one, do you just use water? Thanks! Ben ANA ID: 3203813 - CONECA ID: N-5637 Clean a coin that may be worth collecting? Please DON'T! When in doubt, leave it dirty!! Report this Post to the Staff

John1 Moderator United States 56855 Posts	Posted 09/02/2013 05:37 am Do a search here on CCF. This has been talked about before. John1 Report this Post to the Staff
Yokozuna Pillar of the Community United States 4618 Posts	Posted 09/02/2013 05:53 am John1, Thanks! I found the thread and it looks like it will answer all my answers. Ben ANA ID: 3203813 - CONECA ID: N-5637 Clean a coin that may be worth collecting? Please DON'T! When in doubt, leave it dirty!! Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16817 Posts	Posted 09/02/2013 07:50 am To answer your specific questions if they're not, yet: 1. It matters little what the basket is made of; ultrasonic cleaners work by rapid vibration. Vibrating a coin against anything is going to cause wear. In theory, a sonicator that magically levitated the coin in mid-solution without it touching anything would be a useful dirt removal device, but such technology is beyond us at this point. 2. Unfortunately, the sonication principle does not work well at all in plain water. You need a surfactant to generate bubbles, because it's the bubbles appearing and then spontaneously imploding again that creates the powerful cleansing effect. Any surfactant will do, so you can substitute the soap that comes with the sonicator for pretty much any other soap or detergent, but whichever you use, test it thoroughly on coins you don't care about first, and wash the coins afterwards as thoroughly as possible to remove the soap residue. Many detergents contain sulfur and sulfurous residue left behind on a coin can make lustrous silver or copper turn black, real quick. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis Report this Post to the Staff
Yokozuna Pillar of the Community United States 4618 Posts	Posted 09/02/2013 10:51 pm Thanks for the info SAP. My wife buys jewelry lots on ebay and sorts, cleans and repairs the nicer items. She has a sonic cleaner that really brings out the best in silver and gold (plated) jewelry. It came with special detergents to clean different types of jewelry and warns not to use on things like pearls. I'll test out some junk coins first and give them a chance to develop problems before I try anything worth more than face or silver value. I also have a explosion proof sonic bath that was used in a QC lab at Coca-Cola for years before it was retired and replaced. If I do try to use acetone with the Lab Grade ultra sonic cleaner, we used it to remove any air from syrup samples before we tested them, I'll do it outside at a good distance. I know it's explosion proof, but I'll make sure it's still sealed well before I kill myself. Ben ANA ID: 3203813 - CONECA ID: N-5637 Clean a coin that may be worth collecting? Please DON'T! When in doubt, leave it dirty!! Edited by Yokozuna 09/02/2013 10:53 pm Report this Post to the Staff
lucifer Valued Member United States 189 Posts	Posted 09/02/2013 10:58 pm Don't clean any coins! Report this Post to the Staff
Yokozuna Pillar of the Community United States 4618 Posts	Posted 09/04/2013 11:58 am Quote: Don't clean any coins! Pure Acetone is the only thing I've heard of for removing surface contamination from coins without harming the coin. It dries without spotting the coins surface, too. Using pure Acetone is a common practice. It removes dirt, oils, tape residue and gunk, BUT doesn't harm the coin because it doesn't react with the metal of the coin. Some CCF members have said they wished Third Party Graders would rinse coins in pure Acetone before putting them in slabs. This would keep them from developing finger prints and spots (from where the grader sneezed just before placing the coin in the slab.) Here's a great thread on Acetone and how to use it without harming your coins or removing toning. https://goccf.com/t/98298&SearchTerms=acetone,dip You never want CLEAN a coin by polishing or rubbing and never use anything other than pure Acetone. Ben ANA ID: 3203813 - CONECA ID: N-5637 Clean a coin that may be worth collecting? Please DON'T! When in doubt, leave it dirty!! Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 6 / Views: 1,463

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