the title should make people cringe. a while back I bought an '84 Olympic $10 gold proof coin cheap because it was fogged around the edges and had splotches both sids. so for an experiment I dipped it in paint thinner for a couple of minutes, rinsed in it water, then alcohol, then water again, pat dry. it's now a nice proof with a good mirror look and frosting. it's been 5 weeks so far and it still looks good. now I only tried this because the Olympic coin is one of the most common gold coins and is really just bullion so it's value is just bullion anyway. now it should be a much easier sell when the time comes and is a lot nicer to look at in the mean time. I'm one that generally says don't mess with coins but this worked. gold is pretty resistant to most chemicals but I wouldn't try this with silver.
The problem is...it might work nice in the short term, but what is going to happen in the long term. There are lots of different chemicals in paint thinner that can damage a coin. Hopefully in this case you got it all off fast enough to where there will be no long term damage...but only time will tell.
it wasn't turpentine and with the rinse cycles I think the coin is clean. gold doesn't react with many things. I'll post 4-6 month results. meanwhile the coin looks way better than when I bought it.
Even gold is susceptible to harsh chemicals. Maybe it will be fine and maybe it won't. It will always be worth bullion.
I don't know. I have seen people say that before and I just find it hard to believe that because it is all a homogenous alloy.
Yup, that's how it works around here. It's gonna be interesting to see if the pics show anything. I've seen proofs that look fine until you put it under a magnifying glass or a camera.
a little luck never hurts. the coin looked like crap when I got it so what's the downside, it might look like crap again? or it might look great still in a few months.
The 1984 Olympic $10 coins are pretty common, usually as bullion anyway so no matter what you haven't deeply hurt the value.
Does the container say what is in the paint thinner? Most paint thinners are a mix of organic solvents, most of which will not react with the metal. But why risk it when then are known safe and readily available organic solvents such as xylene, methylethylketone, and acetone?
