An Acetone Bath for 158 Coins

I only found out Friday that flips with PVC damage your coins. A big thanks to the coin dealer that sold me those flips a couple of years ago, without revealing that to me. So I don't see any major damage but maybe should treat all 158 coins with acetone. What's the fastest, easiest way to do that? Are latex gloves okay? Do I really need to wear goggles? If you soak a coin overnight in acetone, do you need to use a closed container to prevent the fumes from causing trouble?

 

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Fastest and easiest: I'll leave this to someone who has more experience using acetone with coins.

Latex: Not the worst choice, but really, it's better to use none at all. Acetone is pretty benign, except that it'll dissolve the surface oils from your skin, leaving your skin very dry. Acetone does slowly dissolve latex, and I wouldn't want the dissolved stuff getting onto nicer coins.

Goggles: Not a bad idea, but even if you splash the stuff directly into your eyes, it's just going to hurt until you flush it out. You pretty much have to soak your eyes in it for a long time to do permanent damage.

Closed container: Oh, yes. Acetone is extremely volatile (evaporates easily) and extremely flammable. Leaving an open container of it indoors is a really bad idea. Be careful what kind of closed container you use, though; it'll attack most kinds of plastic and rubber. Use a glass or metal container; if you can find one with a flat rim, put a ceramic or glass plate over top of it, or use a small bowl and then cover it with a large bowl. It's not critical to have an airtight seal, but tighter is better.

Bottom line: acetone isn't very toxic, and it isn't very irritating, but it is really, really flammable. The liquid won't injure your skin -- unless you light it.

 

A very specific question: can I put more than one coin at a time in the acetone?

 

If you want to use gloves, use nitrile gloves that are chemical resistant. And can be found at hardware stores.

 

Do you need to rinse coins with distilled water after their acetone bath?

 

Where do you find a jar that is short and especially wide?

 

Actually, Nitrile gloves are not recommended for acetone exposure. They rank below latex ( which are ok for small exposure ) and pvc gloves which are about equal. Butyl rubber is preferred. I use bare hands as I don't lounge in it.
http://amo-csd.lbl.gov/downloads/Chemical Resistance of Gloves.pdf

Also using acetone removes water from the surface of the coin, if you rinse them with water of any kind, it is providing substance to futher chemical reaction. Use acetone and suspend vertically to dry. There are some threads on using acetone with different sequencial baths if you are doing a lot of coins. If you are doing just one, use fresh acetone and hold it vertical so all dissolved "uglies" drain off.

if you use outdoors, evaporation will remove the acetone vapors ( don't run the outdoor grill next to it) and even in Reg. rich Calif, acetone can be released into the air. Just don't set yourself or possessions on fire. Shot type glasses work fine for containers doing many coins at a time. After you are done, dump all acetone not still in the can unless you have a glass or metal container with a proper sealing lid ( metal or resistant plastic ). Ask a local chemistry teacher if they have a spare bottle. No water rinse! Ask the chemists on the forum!

Jim

 

Putting more than one coin in at a time will not affect the way acetone works, but coin on coin makes scratches.

The best rinse for the coin after an acetone bath is another acetone bath followed by a third bath. With that many coins, it would probably benefit to replace the final rinse (throw out #1 and move #2 to #1, #3 to #2) at least once regardless and if any cloudiness develops. Remember, it is very flammable.

 

I use nitrile gloves and a shallow soup bowl. Put several coins not touching in let set for several minutes reach in getting one and swish it around take out and hold on edge on a stack of paper towels to wick off excess. Lay on clean stack to dry. I do not rinse with water. BTW I have only used it with silver and gold coins as I do not collect copper any more.

 

Can I put coins on paper towels to dry, flipping them over when the top sides are dry? Can I put acetone in an ashtray, and use it for several groups of coins, or should I put in fresh acetone for each group? Can I dump the used acetone into the ground when I'm done?

 

Could I use a deep cookie sheet and do a whole lot of coins at once?

 

Could I use an aluminum disposable pan?

 

Unless you have plenty of the acetone, do not use a cookie sheet. It will evaporate too fast. Ash tray should work fine. Remember, you need 3 of them. I would not put it "on the ground" because it will kill the grass. Throw it on some concrete. If it is in the sun, the acetone will probably evaporate in 30 seconds.

 

If they are only worth less than 5 cents, the acetone used may cost more than the coins.

Glass storage is the best for storage, but if you find some plastic containers that have the recyclables number 5 in a triangle of arrows, or PP on the bottom , it is polypropylene, which is resistant to acetone. At one time my pharmacy used them so I kept a group and use it for several different chemicals. It does has the benefit of not breaking during an earthquake, and I have picked them up off of the floor a couple of times.

Jim

 

I've got lots and lots of large cents and Indian head cents that I am not so concerned about. Some of them were pretty heavily corroded already, I think. I do have some silver coins, nickels (3 cents and five), and three two-cent pieces that I would like to see undamaged.

 

Actually, when you come right down to it, I'd like to make sure none of them were damaged.

 

So will #2's - high density polyethylene

 

I don't find many /2\ marked bottles except in the chemistry area. Any in general usage ? I have 2 - 1liter bottles made of it, but they seem to age poorly and crack, although it may be the heat Summer has started as it went over 110 today and AC bill over $300 @ 78 degrees inside. But Okla. has been having it's share of weather also.

 

I wonder if small baking pans or loaf pans would work. I wonder if there could be a problem with chemical reactions if I use these items with acetone.

 

You need to visit your grand-kids more often - milk, orange juice and water jugs.

We have not been too bad here and a cool front just came through. Still had a $300+ electric bill.