Posted 03/31/2014 6:09 pm
DO NOT use a tooth brush and scrub anything
DO NOT soak even 2 coins in a tin can or jar let alone 20 or 40
this is what I was told
Acquire a quart of acetone from Home Depot or Lowe's, in the paint section. Treat it like gasoline for storage purposes, and do this operation in a well-ventilated area like your garage or the bathroom with the fan on. Drop the coin into a shot glass, fill it with acetone and cover it with a little pane of glass to prevent evaporation - this stuff is volatile as heck and it'll evaporate quickly.
Latex kitchen gloves will provide sufficient protection for your fingers, but don't soak your fingers as it'll eventually break down.
Have a second shotglass or something reasonably small (so as not to waste acetone) to serve as a quick rinse after a soak; use that rinse only once each time. Have a magnifier handy, so you can see the "infected" areas clearly. Give the first soak two hours, pull the coin and swish it immediately in the rinse (which you pour immediately before use). Then lose both the original soak solution and the rinse solution; acetone is miscible with water so you can safely pour it down the drain while water is running, but give the running water plenty of time to wash it away. Rinse both glasses under pressure, as well, to "blast" away any crud that's been deposited.
No need to ever use water on the coin itself; acetone evaporates cleanly and leaves no residue once the PVC infestation is gone. I don't expect one soak will do the job, though.
Have a look at the coin under magnification, with a toothpick - even better, waste a couple dollars on a grocery-store rose to obtain thorns (tell the hubby you want roses but don't tell him exactly why), and porcupine quills work wonderfully if you happen to have a porcupine handy - and pick at the areas where you can still see green. Acetone softens the crud, and you should be able to physically remove what you still see.
Once this is done, repeat the two-hour soak/rinse/magnification/hubby's roses. This second soak should likely make the job "look" done. But I put that term in quotes for a reason. This is where you start a third soak, and this one goes overnight. Two consecutive quick rinses in the morning, and then go over it with a fine-tooth comb with all the magnification you have to bear. You can expect there to be smaller dots of PVC in areas not even visible in the photos above, and you need to make sure that nothing is left on the coin or it will just come back.
That should do it. Do not be afraid to repeat those two-hour soaks as often as necessary before the overnight; the acetone will not harm the coin.
DO NOT soak even 2 coins in a tin can or jar let alone 20 or 40
this is what I was told
Acquire a quart of acetone from Home Depot or Lowe's, in the paint section. Treat it like gasoline for storage purposes, and do this operation in a well-ventilated area like your garage or the bathroom with the fan on. Drop the coin into a shot glass, fill it with acetone and cover it with a little pane of glass to prevent evaporation - this stuff is volatile as heck and it'll evaporate quickly.
Latex kitchen gloves will provide sufficient protection for your fingers, but don't soak your fingers as it'll eventually break down.
Have a second shotglass or something reasonably small (so as not to waste acetone) to serve as a quick rinse after a soak; use that rinse only once each time. Have a magnifier handy, so you can see the "infected" areas clearly. Give the first soak two hours, pull the coin and swish it immediately in the rinse (which you pour immediately before use). Then lose both the original soak solution and the rinse solution; acetone is miscible with water so you can safely pour it down the drain while water is running, but give the running water plenty of time to wash it away. Rinse both glasses under pressure, as well, to "blast" away any crud that's been deposited.
No need to ever use water on the coin itself; acetone evaporates cleanly and leaves no residue once the PVC infestation is gone. I don't expect one soak will do the job, though.
Have a look at the coin under magnification, with a toothpick - even better, waste a couple dollars on a grocery-store rose to obtain thorns (tell the hubby you want roses but don't tell him exactly why), and porcupine quills work wonderfully if you happen to have a porcupine handy - and pick at the areas where you can still see green. Acetone softens the crud, and you should be able to physically remove what you still see.
Once this is done, repeat the two-hour soak/rinse/magnification/hubby's roses. This second soak should likely make the job "look" done. But I put that term in quotes for a reason. This is where you start a third soak, and this one goes overnight. Two consecutive quick rinses in the morning, and then go over it with a fine-tooth comb with all the magnification you have to bear. You can expect there to be smaller dots of PVC in areas not even visible in the photos above, and you need to make sure that nothing is left on the coin or it will just come back.
That should do it. Do not be afraid to repeat those two-hour soaks as often as necessary before the overnight; the acetone will not harm the coin.
