Cleaned Quarter - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 1,560
dreamstones Valued Member United States 292 Posts	Posted 04/06/2009 10:35 am Recently I had asked about acetone being used to clean a really ugly 1939 quarter. The responses were mostly that acetone wouldn't help this coin, so I decided to experiment a little since there was never a chance this coin would ever grade above f-12 at best and here are the results... Here is the original The left side was cleaned with jewelry cleaner and a Qtip...the right side with nail polish remover(mostly acetone) The reverse (which had the same buildup as the obverse) after cleaning with an acne pad And finally this was after following the jewelry cleaner instructions of soak for 30 minutes, scrub lightly with soft bristle brush, rinse with lukewarm water and pat dry with lint free cloth While cleaning coins is a no-no I decided to educate myself as to what happens when you try to clean your coins. Hopefully it will help me in the future when buying coins as to whether the potential purchase had been cleaned or not. I will be doing more experiments to expand my knowledge... Report this Post to the Staff

just carl Bedrock of the Community United States 20753 Posts	Posted 04/06/2009 11:28 am OH NO! Not a cleaned coin? I've been experimenting for many, many years on coins. I've tried almost anything imaginable to clean a coin. Naturally only on coins that would usually not even be the most admirable in appearances. I see you've already attempted the most common items. However, there are numerous other products you may want to also try on that coin and most are just laying around your kitchen. For example note that Lemon, Tamato, Lime type juices are slightly acidic and many have tried those. Also, people have used Vinegar, molases, Olive Oil, baking soda and water paste, battery acid, Laquer thinner, denatured Alcohol and many other products. I recently heard someone say they have tried Brake cleaners and others with lighter fluid. Keep on working on that coin and see how it turns out. A suggestion is in the future when you finish with that coin, place on a kitchen window sill, blow on it occationally and it should slowly start to look like a normal coin that has not been cleaned. Report this Post to the Staff
dreamstones Valued Member United States 292 Posts	Posted 04/07/2009 06:27 am Thanks carl...I will definitely try a bunch of different stuff. I currently have a handful of dateless buffaloes in vinegar to see if any dates can be brought back. This is turning out to be quite fun! Edited by dreamstones 04/07/2009 06:28 am Report this Post to the Staff
just carl Bedrock of the Community United States 20753 Posts	Posted 04/07/2009 10:44 pm Quote: Thanks carl...I will definitely try a bunch of different stuff. I currently have a handful of dateless buffaloes in vinegar to see if any dates can be brought back. This is turning out to be quite fun! It really is fun. If you watch many forums, web sites, coin info sites, you'll read all kinds of weird, silly, unbeilievable information about coins. It's so much fun to find out how redicuous most are. The main thing is to do your experimenting safely and economically. Use items around the house and document what you do so if you want to repeat, you'll know what you did. Don't forget to try heating that coin in distilled water on a stove. If you should find a magic cure for such coins, don't forget to tell us all. Report this Post to the Staff
vermontensium Moderator United States 16679 Posts	Posted 04/07/2009 11:27 pm Obviously, you picked a common date lower grade coin to experiment with. You still have the spot silver price in any event. Jewelry cleaner can have some powerful results if the coin if left in it for a substantial period of time. They would have most likely proven undesirable. With silver, you have to be more cautious when experimenting as opposed to copper. Copper tends to fair slightly better as it's a harder, more stable metal. swcoin.ecrater.com Report this Post to the Staff
my2cents Valued Member Australia 68 Posts	Posted 04/08/2009 09:11 am I've tried using lots of different chemicals to see the effect on relatively worthless coins. Some of these coins have had very hard lives and the gunk and other deposits on them remain a mystery. I generally start out with something mild and progress if there is little to no change. For a typically bad coin I start with isopropanol and this removes much oily stuff but I have used analox cleaner, industrial printing plate cleaner, xylene-based solvents, and finally phosphoric acid. Believe ti or not even the acid has failed to remove some contaminants! These coins have been returned to circulation, but only after all the chemicals have been washed off and are safe to touch again. Report this Post to the Staff
just carl Bedrock of the Community United States 20753 Posts	Posted 04/09/2009 11:01 pm Quote: I've tried using lots of different chemicals to see the effect on relatively worthless coins. Some of these coins have had very hard lives and the gunk and other deposits on them remain a mystery. I generally start out with something mild and progress if there is little to no change. For a typically bad coin I start with isopropanol and this removes much oily stuff but I have used analox cleaner, industrial printing plate cleaner, xylene-based solvents, and finally phosphoric acid. Believe ti or not even the acid has failed to remove some contaminants! These coins have been returned to circulation, but only after all the chemicals have been washed off and are safe to touch again. AAHHHH, you failed to mention some of the most common, easily obtained, non lethal, non dagerous substances on the market that may well do everything you've tried. Coke or Pepsi. When I was a kid at a gas station they used to use Coke or Pepsi to break truck tires loose from the rims. In manyu schools they show an experiment where Coke is placed in a dish, a steak is dumped in, covered and POOF, after a while the steak is almost gone. And if you know someone that still has a Lead-Acid battery in their car, use a Turkey baster to remove some and use that for your coins. If left in there long enough, that blue stuff is Copper Sulfate, a vegatation killer. If you have a Walmart near you, try the jewlery department. They now have 3 different types of cleaners. Of course I still recommend trying all the stuff around the house first. Report this Post to the Staff
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