How to remove crud?

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by BlackberryPie, Oct 23, 2021.

  1. BlackberryPie

    BlackberryPie I like pie

    Is it possible to remove the crud from these? Acetone brightened them up and removed decades old album grime but did nothing for the crud. 20211019_190607.jpg 20211019_185649.jpg 20211019_185413.jpg 20211019_185108.jpg 20211019_185005.jpg 20211019_184842.jpg 20211019_184716.jpg 20211019_184341.jpg
     
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. MIGuy

    MIGuy Supporter! Supporter

    Dang, I wish I could take pictures that nice, there will be controversy over the question as usual, but if you really want to get rid of it, maybe a soak in distilled water and then a little gentle work with a wooden toothpick? Me, I'm a wuss, I have done an acetone soak, but some of these guys are doing toothpicks, EZ Zest and all sorts of hot rod stuff.
     
  4. BlackberryPie

    BlackberryPie I like pie

    E-Z est will leave cents an unnatural color from what I've read. I only did a 10 second acetone dip. Maybe I'll try a few day soak before anything else. I really don't want to ruin these on an experiment.
     
  5. SensibleSal66

    SensibleSal66 U.S Casual Collector / Error Collector

    They look good to me . @BlackberryPie . Maybe I'm not seeing the Crud ?
     
    Southernman189 likes this.
  6. paddyman98

    paddyman98 I'm a professional expert in specializing! Supporter

    What crud?
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2021
  7. BlackberryPie

    BlackberryPie I like pie

    The dirty brown. Can it be removed without damaging them?
     
    paddyman98 likes this.
  8. paddyman98

    paddyman98 I'm a professional expert in specializing! Supporter

    Millard likes this.
  9. Pickin and Grinin

    Pickin and Grinin Well-Known Member

    The dirty brown looks like it is toning that has gone into the terminal stage. I am pretty sure that it is there for good. You might try some MS70 on it but that has the potential to give your coin a blue hue.
     
  10. Insider

    Insider Talent on loan from...

    Leave them as is. These are not coins to experiment with. Some collectors like colorful "pocket change" and will pay good money to get it. Put the coins on Ebay as a group (as is/ no return/ free shipping/ with your images)and you may be shocked at the price they bring.
     
    Kentucky and MIGuy like this.
  11. Useless to state “no return” in any listing. eBay’s buyer protection (known as the Money Back Guarantee, or MBG) overrides all such statements; they are completely unenforceable.

    A buyer may return any item for any reason (legitimate or not) for a full refund via other mechanisms beyond the MBG.

    For example, a buyer may file for return via PayPal for up to 6 months. The more creative will utilize credit card protections, which may allow returns for up to 18 months. The truly dishonest will use their credit card protections to illicit both a refund and free goods.

    eBay is the Wild West.
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2021
    john65999 and Inspector43 like this.
  12. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    Precisely ! It's not crud at all, it's toning.

    As for the question - is it possible to remove it ? Of course it's possible, but as Insider all but said, it's highly unlikely you would be happy with the results ! I strongly suspect there's damage already done under that dark toning. Coins like this, you just leave alone.

    Now that doesn't pertain to all coins, but specifically copper coins. You can quite often produce amazing results, beautiful results, with silver coins toned much worse than these !
     
  13. Southernman189

    Southernman189 Well-Known Member

    coins are fine. clean any further you'll damage the coin.
     
  14. kanga

    kanga 65 Year Collector

    If acetone didn't remove something, the "something" is most likely not crud.
    The "something" is most likely toning, a chemical change of the surface metal of the coin.
    That's beyond the ability of acetone.
     
  15. Mr.Q

    Mr.Q Well-Known Member

    Looks good to me. Leave it alone, why try to make a good thing possibly worse. Good luck.
     
  16. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

    I like what you have shown. If you’re referring to the slightly darker outside edges forget it. Anything you do is sure to mess up the rest of those coins. Leave them alone.
     
  17. Millard

    Millard Coindog

  18. capthank

    capthank Well-Known Member

  19. KBBPLL

    KBBPLL Well-Known Member

    I've only ever used acetone, and then only a couple times, but isn't anything more aggressive you do to it going to remove or mess up the toning?
     
  20. Pickin and Grinin

    Pickin and Grinin Well-Known Member

    No where in that article does it say acetone removes luster. Acetone is mostly virtually harmless to a copper coin, and absolutely harmless to nickel clad, silver, and gold.
     
    Kentucky, Oldhoopster and whopper64 like this.
  21. whopper64

    whopper64 Well-Known Member

    If you only soaked them for 10 seconds in acetone, try soaking them for several minutes. There is no crud on your coins, only toning. By the way, where and how did you have these stored? If you want to preserve your coins and slow down the toning and eliminate corrosion, store them in 2x2 flips and then purchase a DANSCO album 7000. It's specifically suited for all 2x2 flips, no matter the size of the coin.
     
    Kentucky likes this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page