Does MS70 harm coins?

To be clear, I didn't say harm. I said impact, as in if there is toning on the other side you don't want to be affected.

In general, yes, but mineral oil I use on coins of iron, mild steel, zinc, and lead. It's been used to protect these metals for centuries, and in many cases is the reason coins of these metals have survived to the present day.

I've actually used MS70 as a dip before. If I want to treat the entire coin equally it does work, however, the swab method is more effective in my experience. I've also used VerdiCare as a soak for the full coin. Again, I feel like spot treatment works better, but it depends on your goals.

I don't disagree with most of what you're saying. You talk about my examples being exceptions, but exceptions are really what I use these products for. In general I buy coins that don't need any conservation, and I use only acetone, xylene, and distilled water before submission, just to make sure there are no unseen contaminants that could affect the coin after slabbing.

 

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Sometimes I have tried using paint thinner to remove pvc from a coin and it won't work so I will have to instead use MS70. The MS70 does a much better job of removing pvc. However, a coin dealer whom I know has told me that if a coin has been previously dipped using MS70 on the coin may cause the coin to tarnish or turn color so the paint thinner will be my first choice before resorting to the MS70.

 

How does the paint thinner and MS70 harm coins? The only bad effect I have seen from MS70 is sometimes the coin might develop a spot or two of tarnish or toning after a while where there was something taken off of the coin.

I have tried using acetone to remove pvc but it doesn't seem to touch it.

 

Acetone will only remove organic material. PVC is not organic.

 

It most certainly is. So are the plasticizers that leach out of it, leading to the damage.

The green stuff itself may get that color from an inorganic metal salt, but it's stuck there by organic materials that xylene or acetone will handily dissolve. If you remove that organic goop, it will take most or all of the green stuff with it, and it will put a halt to any further damage.

 

What is xylene? Does it remove metal like E Zest?

 

Xylene is an organic solvent, more specifically a non-polar organic solvent. That means it's good for removing oils, waxes, grease, and many plastics, but not good for removing dried sugar, salt, or other water-soluble stuff.

It can't possibly hurt metal (unless you light it on fire), and it won't disturb actual toning. (It might remove fake toning that's actually a layer of colored stuff painted onto the coin.)

 

Accurate, however, I would still use it on fully brown MS copper that has that dry lusterless look. The brown hides the blue/purple tint fairly well, and it will really breathe new life into the coin. I would not use it on any red or red brown copper.

 

Xylene is a hydrocarbon. Hydrocarbons won't hurt metal.

Paint thinner can contain all kinds of stuff. The most common components are chemically similar to xylene and acetone, at least as far as what they will or won't do to coin metal. I'd expect most to be harmless, but I wouldn't trust a valuable coin to something that won't even say what its exact ingredients are.

Paint stripper is another matter entirely. I don't want anything to do with that stuff.

 

Excellent point. Even if it doesn't affect the metal, if it sticks around on the metal, it can attack whatever you put the coin into. And, of course, smell bad.

 

Polyvinyl chloride is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic plastic polymer, after polyethylene and polypropylene.

How is that organic?

 

"Organic" has a specific meaning in chemistry. To put it simply, stuff that's based on a backbone of carbon and hydrogen, or derived from something like that, is an "organic chemical". It's called that because long ago people thought such chemicals could only be produced by living things. Methane, ethanol, sugar, protein, fat, petroleum -- all are organic chemicals.

Nothing to do with "organic produce" and the like, as you can see.

 

If acetone can dissolve pipes in the house what do you do with the left-over acetone once you are done with it? Do you soak it up with a paper towel and rinse the rest off what is left on the coin?

 

If I am using paint thinner on a coin and I switch hands to handling the coin with my other hand while I am rinsing of the coin the coin doesn't have an oily feel to it but the hand which has been in contact with the paint thinner has an oily-feel to it. Perhaps the paint thinner doesn't stay on the coin but it does stay on your skin which can absorb it?

 

Just let it evaporate into the air. People breath out acetone from metabolism, People with diabetes can breathe out 1000X of a normal person and people on Keto-diets breathe out even more. It can take the oils out of your skin so use latex gloves. Do not even think what the elephant zoo keepers have to put up with Jim

 

Sorry, misread your comment about the MS70. I thought the green stuff I am taking off of my coins is pvc. Whatever it is I usually get good results from using the MS70 on my Morgan dollars. But how do you know paint thinner harms coins? Have you personally used it on your coins and gotten negative results from it? When I have used paint thinner it hasn't seemed to do anything bad to my coins. A coin dealer whom I know tells me paint thinner is safe to use on rare coins.