I received a nice 1934 P light motto today and realized it has quite a bit of PVC on it. Do you guys have any recommendations for its removal besides acetone? Further, can I leave it in an acetone bath for too long and cause any damage to the surfaces? What I have done to a few in the past is place them in a small dish, soak in pure acetone for 15 minutes, take a medical syringe (without the needle of course) and kinda lightly spray the acetone over the surfaces while the coin is submerged. It works pretty good. Just wanted to see if you guys have any other suggestions. Thanks in advance.
Acetone soak should solve your problems. If it were mine, I'd try 30 mins then touch any leftover areas with a q tip.
You could use xylene, but the process would be similar to acetone. As with any chemical, you need to be smart when handling it but there are a lot of threads on CT that can help you Acetone won't damage your coin, however the PVC plasticizer residue may be hiding damage that has already occurred. But you still need to remove it or it will keep eating away at the coin @C-B-D posted a good process to follow. I would add that you should rinse the coin after the acetone. I prefer distiller water but if you have decent tap water, that's ok. The concern with tap water is that when it dries it can leave water spots from the minerals. As long as you don't let tap water dry on the coin, you should be ok
I leave the coin in acetone for a few hours. Next, I clean the dish and do it again with fresh acetone.
Larry has it exactly right at post #5. If you want to get fancy, try a little patch of cotton flannel in the bottom of the dish, so that if you want to "swirl" the coin, it won't abrade against the dish. BUT KEEP IT GENTLE! Even flannel can mark a nice coin.
I just put the coin in an acetone bath with a piece of cotton t-shirt in the bottom. I do like the "keep it from rubbing the bottom of the dish" idea Kurt. I may go ahead and use the syringe to gently jet the surfaces while it is submerged. I will post a couple of picks of the finished product. Thanks for the tips everybody!!
Okayyyyy. We won't ask why you have syringes. Kidding! Sweet idea. Anything that can provide liquid agitation without causing rub on the coin is a good thing. I've frequently thought of using a WaterPik type of rig. By the way, I think you'll have a nice piece at the end of this. There's a nice D on the other side, right?
Weeeellllllll... to my knowledge there isn't a 34D light motto... now you got me curious... sorry kurt this is a P minted coin. However, it was advertised as AU and i think it is BU. The curl above the ear on the 34 seems to be notorious for a somewhat deceiving flat strike (where the curl details are not fully visible above the ear) in a lot of examples which i think is "automatically assumed" an au coin when it is actually uncirculated. Which is the case for this coin. No scratches, no field marks, no tell tell signs of circulation, just a wee bit flat struck on the curl. But that is just an observation!!
If the colors are close, I do not think it is PVC damage. It might come off with acetone, but don't be overly forceful. Not with acetone Kurt! Distilled water, sure...I have a thread someplace with my experiment with a water pik. I do not use that method though. Jim
After 2 hours in the acetone i am pleased with the results. The PVC removal uncovered a few small dings high up in washingtons hair i couldn't see before but i am good with that!! The NGC 64 illustrates the light strike on the curl i was referring too. Thanks guys!!
