Acetone And Coins

Anyone who says it harms coins doesn't have a clue. Acetone does nothing to metal. If you have coins that you think may have something that acetone will remove( adhesive, PVC etc) then there is absolutely no reason not to soak them in it.

There are many posts on the subject.

The only downside is on a dark coin after removing the crud the coin may not have toned or aged the same underneath the gunk.

I've used acetone on several coins some with no effect, some with a positive affect, non with a negative affect.

Even on ANACS' website before they offered their conservation services they recommended using acetone to remove PVC.

Before



After



And certified no sign of cleaning since acetone does not damage or "improperly clean" a coin (but wheel marked by the roller since it was an ender )

If a fingerprint has corroded its way into the metal, nothing can remove that. If stuff has built up in the print, then it may be made less obvious but it will not be removed. Post some pics.

This is a 38D Walker I picked up on ebay for 60.00 bucks. Acetone and a q-tip and that gunk was gone. Side by side you can see some of the outline of the gunk spots where the toning is different. And believe me, if I just handed you the coin without ever seeing the before pic, you would not know any different.

Smokeriderdon,
Thats a great difference. The toning doesn't change too much. That's a good side by side! Thanks for the example.

Alright. So I improvised a little.
I put a 64 washington in that was a little grimy, had some nasty dirt in some spots.
I placed it in a sealed jar with acetone. After 2 minutes I removed and scrubbed lightly with a clean q tip.
The coin is significantly nicer. My before and after pictures are terrible unfortunately. The cartwheel effect of the coin remains intact. Success.

nickelnickel, If your dime is not a key date give acetone a try. Post a before and after photo.Make sure to only use 100% pure acetone.

jack jeckel, That half to me does look "cleaned" because most of the "luster" disappeared.

I do not recommend using a Q-tip because cotton does scratch.
John1

If it's 107% Acetone, any coin made of concrete will explode. 127% Acetone will turn coins into a blob of flowers. Hopefully you realize it would be a bit tuff to get Acetone in over 100%.
All just in fun. IF you use the Search tab for Acetone, coin cleaning, cleaning coins, etc. you will find many, many posts about Acetone. People use it for taking all sorts of things off coins but mostly things like tape, glue, dirt, etc. Acetone has no effect on any metal. And too, Acetone will not harm many other things. Note that it can be purchased in cans and those are metal. IF Acetone effected metals, they would not sell it in metal cans.
Imagine trying to buy Acetone and they told you to open your hands and they poured it in your hands due to it not being able to be in a can.
The possibly only bad thing about using Acetone on coins is when you take something off a coin, like tape, it may well leave a mark where the tape was.

Any time you're going to use an implement on a coin - regardless of what it is, i.e. qtip, toothpick, etc. and what the fluid is - only do with while the coin is UNDER FLUID. Dry or even "damp" rubbing can damage the patina.

In general, I recommend people not rub at all during the first conservation attempt. You can NEVER be too gentle on the first round. Once you make a mistake by getting too aggressive, there is no turning back. I recommend starting with the solvent Polarity Ladder:

1) distilled or deionized water
2) acetone (do not use fingernail polish remover)
3) xylene