Silver Coins In Alcohol Are Happy Coins. Am I Wrong?

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Author	Replies: 4 / Views: 1,115
RickyO New Member Argentina 33 Posts	Posted 08/03/2023 12:43 am Hi! Ricky Olcese from Argentina here. New member, so please forgive me if I say something silly. Whenever I buy silver coins, I prepare a special bath for them. That's right! A nice clean glass bowl, 96% alcohol, and coins inside! If some nasty person had touched my little precious little coins with their filthy, sweaty, greasy hands, and did not hold them by the edge, there could be irty prints or God knows what on my coins in the future. That's why I dip the coins in alcohol, leave them there for a few hours, put them on a soft towel, and wait until they naturally get dry and alcohol evaporares. Is what I do right? I need some wise, experienced piece of advice from you guys, super-numismaticians-coin experts! Report this Post to the Staff

HondoB Bedrock of the Community United States 25075 Posts	Posted 08/03/2023 12:48 am 100% acetone is a much better choice. Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures Report this Post to the Staff
RickyO New Member Argentina 33 Posts	Posted 08/03/2023 12:54 am Dear Mr Boguss, Thank you again for your kind reply! I tried buying acetone, but it is forbidden to the public because the authorities say it can be used to produce drugs. Hence the alcohol as a substitute. Yours truly, RickyO :P Report this Post to the Staff
Sap Moderator Australia 16810 Posts	Posted 08/03/2023 02:14 am What you are doing should be entirely harmless to the coins. It does depend on what else might be in the alcohol. Industrial-grade alcohol is usually deliberately contaminated with something that mkes it taste and/or smell terrible, to ensure people don't drink it. Methanol is a common denaturant (creating "methylated spirits" or "denatured alcohol") to make it smell funny; they also often add a substance called denatonium benzoate, which tastes horrible. Methanol would be harmless to coins, but denatonium is a solid at room temperature and will stay behind on the coin after the alcohol evaporates. If you're using non-denatured, food-grade alcohol, there shouldn't be anything in that except ethanol and water. I would say that a 2 hour soak is probably overkill - if it doesn't come off in one minute, then additional time probably won't help. Won't hurt either, it's just not necessary. 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
RickyO New Member Argentina 33 Posts	Posted 08/03/2023 09:22 am Sap, I am infinitely thankful for your answer. Report this Post to the Staff
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