Cleaning Coins Maybe A Good Tip?

I wouldn't put acetone inside anything plastic. I think there are already tips out there for this (i.e. "Use a mason jar!")

Glass or ceramic, both non-reactive materials, are your best bet.
I think you came to the best solution on your own, but never stop thinking
and asking questions.
Excellent practice.

I hope if anyone has made this mistake they wont anymore but like I said It may say pure 100% acetone but what about the platic jar its held in how could we be sure it doesn't contaminate the acetone maybe they should lable it 99.5% pure because of this just saying! Its a touchy subject most know. I will probably google it I'm just making this reply because maybe this has been over looked by some and now that I think of it glass jars would be very good to insure truly 100%percent pure acetone but they may use a nonreactive coating or what ever inside the jars but its still good to remember the container or dish you use might affect/contaminate the acetone. Id buy acetone that came like that from a coin shop for sure.Just saying. Hint hint

On the other hand the residue might preserve the coin lol hu hu hu

Ceramic or glass would be the number one choice to use with solvents but one type of plastic safe to use with acetone is polypropylene which is recycling code #5. Many plastic bottle caps are also polypropylene but they are typically unlabeled with a recycling code so it is best to stick with clearly marked #5 plastic.

PVC contamination on coins is almost always attributed to the long-term storage of a coin in a soft flip. Short-term storage is ok but it is best to use inert mylar flips(more rigid than PVC, tends to crack if sharply bent). PVC itself is not the problem, it is the plasticizers used to soften the PVC that leach out over time. Chlorinated compounds are offgassed and will react with water vapor to form hydrochloric acid on the surface fo a coin, that is what permanently damages the coin given enough exposure time.

I have tried to use gun metal bore cleaner on some circulated coins and it seems to do a good job and doesn't affect the brownish blueish toning that is on the coins or what was leftof them on the circulated coins I used. It did make the tones more vibrant. I just put a drop on each side then pat dry with a clean microfiber cotton cloth it does leave a bit of oil on it(petroleum distillate?) but the more you pat it the dryer it looks while still leaving the coins tones a little more vibrant. Sometimes I use a steam cleaner after I let the cleaner soak in a bit being caarefull not to heat the coin up much and patting the one side dry and letting it cool(it doesn't get that hot just a bit warm) before doing the other side and afterwards it looks prefectly dry though less vibrant then leaving a little bit on the coin. It seems to get off some stains but some not so much sometimes. here is what the back of the cleaner says

Nitro solvent is a powerfull bore cleaner for use in firearms barrels and mechanisms removes lead deposits, nitro powder residue and metal fouling. CONTAINS NO ACID. SAFE on all gun metal parts. contains petroleum distillates, turpentine and Amyl ACETATE. I was wondering if this could be a good powerful alternative to just pure acetone any thoughts on this. Just remember I'm testing things on regular pre82 cents that are worn abit from circulation but still have some of the brownish toning. and I dont like how some of the coins come out but would never use on any coin I value or think someone else down the line will value I'm just try to learn the best way in case I come accross so gunky coins I want to clean. I found just the steam cleaner alone is pretty good at removing gunk expeicialy from inbetween the letters with out touching the coin. Has anyone ever talked about cleaning coins with steam cleaners and what was the outcome if so?

Most pure acetone I have seen comes in a metal can or jug. I have never seen any that is sold in plastic. Nail polish remover is, and so is jewelry cleaner, though. Jewelry cleaner was the first thing I thought of when you said a little basket to put things down into the liquid.

I only use glass when I soak coins.

Why are you trying to clean with so many harmful things? They should not be used on anything of value, but maybe I am missing the point?

You can read all about denatonium, and the debate on whether or not it is a significant contaminant, in this recent thread.


Arrrrrgh. That grinding sound you are hearing is the sound of the teeth of all the chemists on this forum...

"Amyl acetate" and "acetone" are two entirely different things. Amyl acetate is an ester of acetic acid (the organic acid found in vinegar); acetone is a ketone. They do have at their core a similar chemical structure (CH3-CO-) hence their similar name, but their properties are completely different.

That being said, amyl acetate is not going to do very much harm to your coins - provided you don't mind them smelling like fake fruit. Amyl acetate is less volatile than acetone, so it will not all rapidly evaporate from the surface of a coin like acetone will. Furthermore, amyl acetate is almost completely insoluble in water (as are most of the other ingredients listed), so no amount of washing your coins will remove it unless you use soap or detergent to remove it.

Because their chemical properties are different, the kinds of things removed by the two solvents will also differ. Amyl acetate is less polar than acetone, so it will be better at dissolving waxy deposits but not as good at dissolving sticky things.

Basically, your gun cleaning solution is designed for cleaning guns, where the main problem being solved is to remove the gunk without using either water or acid, since water and acid are both death to gunmetal. The stuff is designed to not all evaporate off afterwards, to leave a protective layer of solvent behind as a barrier to moisture, to prevent the gunmetal rusting. None of these things are a primary concern with coins, and these days coin collectors don't want thin layers of anything left on their coins, if possible, especially if that thin layer changes the appearance of the coin.


I can't say I've ever heard of anyone steam-cleaning coins. I don't see why it wouldn't work, though the extra heat might accelerate oxidation reactions on less stable coin surfaces, such as bright shiny copper.

As for your physics question: while steam cannot fall below 212 Fahrenheit without recondensing as liquid water (we usually see the "mist" or "cloud" that results from this - steam above 212 Fahrenheit is transparent and invisible), steam can get much, much hotter than 212 Fahrenheit if you've got the gear to heat it with. You can heat steam up all the way to about 4500 Fahrenheit, beyond which point the water molecules spontaneously disassociate into hydrogen and oxygen atoms.