Is Acetone really the trick?

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by Bambam8778, Aug 25, 2018.

  1. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    I've pointed this out for as long as this forum has existed. The easy solution is to use a final rinse with distilled water after using acetone. And then dry the coins properly.
     
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  3. cladking

    cladking Coin Collector

    I've been seeing something similar using my mixture of acetone and alcohol or even pure alcohol.

    Rinsing immediately in warm water seems to lessen the effect.

    I'm going to try rinsing while still soaking next. I'll just change the alcohol to warm water as quickly as possible giving the air no chance to get to it.
     
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  4. cladking

    cladking Coin Collector

    You can only imagine my condition.

    The mint set packaging is four layers with a soft PVC laden plastic touching the coin on both sides. These inner layers apparently serve as a sort of "glue" to hold the mylar together when it is crimped.

    I have no excuse. I've known this for years and done very little about it. Even coins stored in my safety deposit boxes are ruined.
     
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  5. cladking

    cladking Coin Collector

    Proof sets have proven relatively stable so far. Pennies are often ruined but other coins for the main part are OK. They may or may not prove suitable for longer term storage but so far all the ones in hard plastic are "good enough". The SMS are a little worse but the coins mostly just haze and this can usually be corrected. Older sets in soft plastic are hit and miss and should probably be removed or put into ideal storage conditions.

    The mint took vary little concern for purchasers. In their defense they might not have known how bad the mint set packaging was. They did finally tweak the packaging in '81 and then switch to something more stable in '84 with even better in '85. '85 and later sets are rarely affected but they probably still aren't suitable for long term storage. Young people should be reminded that the "long term" comes much faster than their expectations and much more slowly than their plans.

    I'm heartsick about the coins I've lost. I thought saving coins for the future would be a laudable goal and then I allowed them to be ruined.
     
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  6. cladking

    cladking Coin Collector

    I should add that it's not as simple as just keeping them wet and there must be something left on the coin when this happens.
     
  7. -jeffB

    -jeffB Greshams LEO Supporter

    I just came across a beer bottle of cents that I filled and taped off in 1982. It's a brown bottle, so it's hard to get a true reading on the color of the coins, but it looks like the ones that were lustrous when I put them in still are.

    I used packing tape, which probably ruined any coins it actually touches, but seems to have kept oxygen out pretty well.

    Don't know how they would fare over centuries, but after 35 years, so far, so good.
     
  8. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    Don't ever do this to any coins you think might have numismatic value. eZest is a coin dip that could be used for jewelry (I guess), but is pretty specifically for coins, and be careful with it also.
     
  9. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    ...yes, don't use just any jewelry cleaner on coins.
     
  10. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    Where did you get that idea?
     
  11. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    Pretty good "cleaning" strategies exist for silver and gold coins. Nickel and CuNi coins are more problematic and aluminum is a REAL problem to do anything with.
     
  12. cladking

    cladking Coin Collector

    Every once in a while you'll see them delaminate.
     
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  13. Jaelus

    Jaelus The Hungarian Antiquarian Supporter

    I don't think it's something left on the coin. My theory has been that it has to do with rapid oxidation. The coin is coming out of a cold bath and is drying rapidly causing a difference in temperature between the surface of the coin and the ambient air.
     
  14. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    I'm a bit more simple than that. I don't care what it is or what causes it. The only thing that matters is that it is there, and how do you get rid of it. A final rinsing in distilled water solves the problem every time. Works for me ;)
     
    Jaelus likes this.
  15. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

    Doug, we're talking about Aluminum coins having been rinsed in acetone here, not silver. No amount of rinsing is going to fix the spots left behind on an aluminum coin. We're trying to figure out how and why aluminum is affected so adversely by acetone.
     
  16. desertgem

    desertgem Senior Errer Collecktor Supporter

    I searched every acetone-aluminum article I could find and coin forums ( 7 people total said it happened to them or a friend , but no one had any photos that showed the effect of acetone damage. Several claimed acetone did bad things to their wheels, castings, cars, bikes, etc. but no info on the aluminum alloy content. Many others said it hadn't happened to them, but with the small aluminum coins, collectors generally have available, one can not draw any secure conclusions. If anyone has such photographs I would very much like to see them. I know another collector who purchases pound bags and searches for rarities since the bank banned him from boxes of coins and I will ask him to look for some with all stages of wear to try it on them sometime. My suspicion is that the observers who claim it happened remember wrongly about the surface before acetone use.

    Jim
     
  17. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    Honestly can't figure out what acetone would do to an Al coin.
     
  18. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

    It will take me a little while, but I am going to buy a few cheap aluminum coins, acetone treat them, and take copious before and after pictures. I'll send the disfigured husks to you or any other interested numismatic chemist for whatever surface samples you desire.

    I assure you, I do not misremember the lustrous surface before and hazy, spotted surface after.
     
  19. cladking

    cladking Coin Collector

    You certainly have talked into trying it.
     
  20. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

  21. green18

    green18 Unknown member Sweet on Commemorative Coins

    [Raises hand in embarrassment]
     
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