I bought this bronze 1870 Luxembourg 5 centimes piece, and it is covered with some grime/dirt, but the underlying coin appears in great condition. I'm afraid of storing it away and the grime doing further damage or something. Should I attempt to soak it in some distilled water and see if the grime easily comes off, or something similar? Or just leave it be? I don't want to damage/devalue the coin. But I also don't want the grime to damage/devalue it further over time. Thank you
Give it a soak it in acetone (pure) and rinse it with distilled water. That may remove most of the grime.
Do you believe that won't damage anything? It's hard for me to tell whether the coin is in nice condition under the grime or would be pitted or something (which seems like it would devalue it due to the appearance of cleaning).
Acetone is perfectly safe and will not affect the metal surface of the coin. The only risk involved is it actually removing the grime and revealing any damage that is underneath. The acetone dip will not give the coin a cleaned look. Of course, assuming you do not rub or wipe it with anything.
I don't think acetone will help it much but you can try. I think you'll do more good soaking it in distilled water.
I just took a tooth pic to some of the grime and it appears to be pretty hard. I couldn't just easily scrape or flake it off with the tooth pick, it would probably require more force. I'll think some more about the water or acetone. Blah cleaning a coin scares me Thanks guys
The coin is corroded. You might be able to get rid of the black stuff, but you will find surface damage underneath. I have a similar coin, with similar damage....but mine was from Belgium, not Luxembourg.
