Need PVC exposure advice

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Baloney....

 

Ehh.. I meant in terms of like preventing further damage if it has a condition, or initial cleaning from recovery when a coin is found in a 500 year resting place somewhere. If it's original I'm against cleaning just to make it "prettier" in any way.

 

Update: Have discontinued thoughts of trying to salvage my purchases. Am quarantining my polluted coins in 2x2s away from everybody else and trying to find suitable replacements. My new problem is fighting off a stereotype that everyone in Canada uses awful PVC supplies lol. It doesn't feel like the non-PVC good stuff is quite as available to the Canadian folks, as a US'ian looking in. Would be cool to hear the perspective of somebody from up north.

Good news is I have most post-silver dimes/quarters/halves in line now at least.

 

Not a lot of options, I see. Maybe try these albums:
https://www.lighthouse.us/vista-book-canada.html
(they are also available at Wizard)

 

Acetone is produced as a chemical breakdown reaction in humans lungs/blood from the breakdown of fats, so if overweight (fat) , don't breath on your coins! Acetone is organic and should not separately cause chemical reactions with metals. This was once a big industrial fight as which chemical was best to clean "oils" off of copper before soldering. Only one study ( paid for by a non-acetone using company found that color ( change in metallic characteristic ) was caused by acetoneand theirs didn't. I am in the group that feels pure acetone can not react with metals. It cleans Organic CRAP OFF OF COINS, but has never caused a color change for me. It's your personal decision as to use it or not, but ask a chemist if a organic can do that. Breathe on a fresh bright copper cent after burning fat and wait for it to turn color
( info) I do not hold any stock of Acetone company and I breathe on coins all the time. Not trying to convert anyone, ask a chemist. Jim

 

Again.....?

Just state what "proper cleaning" (per composition type) is, and provide examples.

Maybe start with white haze.

Then advise what the "proper cleaning" method for a gold piece is, and what happens (if anything) to any copper "staining" in a gold piece.

 

Since you appear to be new to CT, I'll try and summarize some things you may not have seen or don't remember (I'm old, don't hit me). Conservation or proper cleaning can take care of some issues but not all, and must be done with knowledge and care. Pure solvents - water, acetone, toluene, alcohol - will not harm coins and will not take off real toning. Care must be exercised to not rub or scrub on the coins to prevent scratching from grit that might be present. The infamous white haze shows improvement in some cases with agents containing caustic (NaOH or KOH), but may not work in all cases and must be done with care. Copper staining or carbon spots are usually something that just should be avoided when buying coins.

 

It hasn't been mentioned much, but there are some studies using lasers to clean coins.

"Can you clean coins with a laser?


All these experiments indicated that the 1064 nm laser pulse succeeded to clean metal coins; the only drawback comes from photothermal effects, which could be avoided only with the use of low fluences.

 

As I understand laser cleaning, it relies on the fact that surface contaminants are darker/less reflective than clean metal, and that they conduct heat less effectively both within themselves and into the underlying metal. You can heat them up enough to vaporize them and physically dislodge them without heating the underlying metal enough to change its properties.

For PVC residue, though, it's organic and easily dissolved with acetone or xylene/toluene. It seems goofy to use a laser on it.

 

Sorry, I assumed ( bad me) that "everyone" knew about acetone for PVC, preferred by 99.99% . Jim