Acetone For Cleaning

In the US, nail polish removers that contain acetone also typically have colorings, fragrance, nail conditioners, etc in them. However, the fact that you found it listed as "Pure Acetone 99.5%" bodes well since that is basically reagent grade acetone. As SuperDave mentioned, acetone from a paint supply store would probably be your best bet as that should not have any additives at all. Always do an evaporation test to determine purity- let a small amount of acetone evaporate in a glass dish. If no residue or haziness is left on the glass, it is safe to use for coins. Always remember to rinse the coin in clean acetone after a soaking!

A dunking in acetone is not cleaning in the numismatic sense, which is a damaging process. Neutral wet methods like the use of acetone and other organic solvents are considered to be conservation since it does not alter the metal of the coin and will only remove surface contaminants.

Ditto on the warning. Acetone is a volatile and flammable substance. Its fumes will cause liver damage over time, and a great big headache if used in an inadequately ventilated room.

You want acetone as pure as you can find it. Start by going to your local "chemist" (USA=Pharmacist) and ask if you can order pure drug or food grade acetone. At the very least you want reagent grade Acetone. This is to avoid impurities like WATER which is very miscible in acetone. Its frequently used in organic synteses where one has to work with water-soluble and -insoluble components.

The poster who stated that you may reveal uneven toning and ruin the eye appeal was right. I did some experiments with that years ago (with crappy coins, lol) and saw first hand.

Good luck and PLEASE be careful!

Bruce

b17commander,
there is nothing at all harsh about soaking a coin in acetone, it will not react with the metal at all. A coin soaked in acetone will be perfectly gradable by a TPG afterwards. As long as you take the proper precautions- well ventilated work area away from any ignition source- it is perfectly safe to use. As long as you do not drink it or smoke while using it, there will be no "almost fatal results".

If you go to the Main Coin Forum section you will see a few ongoing topics on Acetone. Read those and any onthers you may find by searching this forum. Caution with flamable substances can not be stressed enough.
As to Alcohol, not if you attempt to purchase from places like Walmart, Kmart, Walgreens, etc there is a wide variety of this. Some are 20%, 40%, 70%, etc. and it is difficult to tell what the other percents may be. Different manufacturers have different substances added. Naturally just water added you could not be certain what type of purity the water was. Therefore using Alcohol is not recommended. Do not be afraid to ues Acetone, just be really, really very carefull.
Remember that if something should go wrong from the usage of any dangerous substance recommended over the internet, the individuals doing that recommendation will NOT pay for your medical bills, help rebuild your house and for sure will not visit you in the hospital.

Sorry but that is not a good suggestion. Some dish soaps will horribly discolor a coin. I've done that. You must remember that if you look at the lables of dish soaps you would see very little information as to the actual formulae. All dish soaps are made differently due to the forulae being proprietary. Some organizations change their forulae frequently to stop copy problems. Some add substances to mask what is in them. Saying Dish Soap just is wrong.
Then too the water to rinse after words could also be a disaster. Note in many areas water is treated with chemicals to kill bacterias and that too is not really great for coins. Note in some areas Chlorine is added to tap water. Water softeners are used which adds NaCl to the water which in thoes areas that water should not be used for plants. Some have well water full of Iron.
NO, dish soap and water is not a good suggestion.

dido to what biokemist says