Question About Cleaning-Opinions Please

Without a picture it's very difficult to respond to the gist of your inquiry. Off the top of my head it sounds as if the coin surface has been compromised by natural/unnatural elements rather than production error.

I'm afraid if you use a caustic to clean it, it will result in looking like a piece of pot metal, rendering it worthless if it was/is an 'error' coin.

Jim

This is a hot-button subject.

There are a couple of things you can do which, in my liberal opinion, will not either harm your coin or take away from its' value. Dipping is not one of them - I would say that if the coin needs to be dipped, you are better off leaving it as-is.

First, drop the coin into a shot glass full of clean water. Let it soak overnight. Then freeze it, long enough to ensure it is completely frozen solid. Then allow it to thaw at room temperature. This process should (you may have to repeat it a few times) eventually break loose anything that the water can soak into, without you needing to use soap or any sort of tool. I do not expect it to do anything about the white haze.

Second, soak it in pure acetone. You can find acetone at a home-improvement or hardware store; just make sure it's pure and not adulterated like most nail-polish removers. Again, I recommend the use of an appropriately-sized shot glass, which allows both faces of the coin to be in contact with the liquid while the sides of the glass hold the coin by its' rim. Allow it to sit overnight, and then refresh the acetone to drain away any crid which it has removed. You can pretty much leave the coin to soak in acetone for as long as you like - I've soaked coins for as much as a week at a time - acetone is an organic solvent which will not attack the metal.

ACETONE IS AN EXTREMELY VOLATILE LIQUID, MUCH MORE VOLATILE THAN GASOLINE, AND MUST BE TREATED WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT. USE ONLY IN A WELL-VENTILATED AREA, KEEP YOUR SOAKING CONTAINER COVERED, AND DO NOT ALLOW ANYTHING RESEMBLING A SPARK TO COME ANYWHERE NEAR IT.

In my opinion, any step which goes beyond these methods, including the use of any soap, goes beyond what is appropriate for treating a coin and will negate any value the coin might have.

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I avoided the freeze technique due to the suspected lamination ,, if water get under the area of the lamination and freezes this could alter the lamination by the expansion of the water as it freezes.

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Ooooooh. Very good point. Gcpd35, please modify my advice according to Metalman's correction - he seems to be in possession of not only his own brain, but also the half of mine that seems to be missing.