Acetone Cleaning Silver Coins

Oh, it does it. The two-shilling piece is only 50% silver, if that should make it any the more plausible. I've seen it happen on 90% silver halves, though, too. To see it, you have to remember what the coin looked like, just before. On toned copper, I don't even use acetone, anymore, for that reason. At the minimum, it does something to the "vividness" of the tarnish. Again, you have to remember what the coin looked like, just before, to discern it. On that two-shilling piece I described, though, that brief soak (in 100% Pure, just for the record) completely wiped that spot off. It was a light spot, and no trace of it remained.

My, let's call it, "anecdotal evidence;" FWIW...

EDIT: Uh oh, attention, troops, big retraction time! I'll leave what I said because it's half right. It's like what my wife says about me, I'm half honest.

Anyway, I try. But, on that two shillings piece, specifically, I remember, now, I hit that one with acid. That's what I'm sure took off that light spot of tarnish.

OK, as you were...

The kindergarden version: I was mistaken when I said I saw acetone remove tarnish; instead, that was acid that removed it.

It appears to be acetone, but is probably more expensive than the 100% acetone you can buy in their paint department.

I would not use anything that is labeled "nail polish remover". I don't care what the label says about 100% acetone, I've seen those labels lie. These usually traces of odorants, colorants or ethyl acetate, for example. Someone once posted a "100%" product here but when I dug down into it there were other ingredients. Even 0.1% contamination of acetone could produce adverse effects on a coin.

Try a local hardware store, ask for acetone and they should have the real stuff.

And in case anyone is curious, an acetone bath works wonders for light PVC film.

I bought some 100% stuff off ebay and it does remove crud on cooper,bronze and silver.After immersing in acetone rinse with distilled water.Just be very gentle.

It is also great for removing adhesives and other crud like that...

Following is a 38D Walker I picked up on ebay for well below value due to green stuff on it. On the left is what it looked like as sold. The green splotches were some kind of goop. Not sure exactly what. About 8 minutes work with qtips and acetone and the same coin on the right. Acetone can be marvelous stuff.

I forgot that I started this topic last year. I remember I washed many of my coins with Acetone to remove some dirt and most of all the smell. I remember it was kind of smelly, not bad or stink, just unpleasant. I hoard them in a box and made me hesitate to touch them. They look like it was in rolls that disintegrate over the years. The coins in outer side were full with corrosion but the middle (majority) are "protected" in AU conditions, just the edges of the coins are green or brown. In the beginning, I pour a small amount of Acetone in a small cup and soaked few coins at a time. It went very well, remove some green layers and the smell. The Acetone evaporates very fast and smells very strong, in small amount like that won't overwhelm me. I notice after few coins, it left a layer of residue in the (dry) cup. Later, I am using a glass jar with lid to wash the coins. It reduces the evaporation, less smell and saved the Acetone that way. I use small amount of Acetone at a time and wipe the residue after few coins. Few weeks ago, I started another topic with title Verdi Care. My intention is to learn how to salvage and preserve the rest of my coins that has bad appearance, the coins at the end of rolls. First I thought it has corrosion, but at the end I realized it didn't eat the surface of the coins. Somebody in other forum told me it may be Copper corrosion won't affect Silver. I think, Acetone breaks non water soluble layer and hot water with liquid soap soften the stuff. I have to brushed with old tooth brush and detail it with wooden tooth picks. I am glad I did, I removed most of the bad stuff, left minor spots and patina on good coins. Thank you for every body's thoughts and supports. See my other tread in this forum.