Acetone Made Silver Ike worse

I bought a 1971 Blue Ike Saturday. Dealer said to give acetone bath because it was stored in PVC plastic (which it came in the mint from). So I gave it a bath and now it looks worse. There are white blemishes on the cheek and neck that weren't there before. Anyone know how this could be?

 

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Because the acetone removed what was covering those smudges. They are likely permanent damage from PVC.

Acetone is chemically incapable of altering the appearance of a coin, excepting in rare cases with copper where you have to work to get the conditions right. Think, performing the dip in your yard, in bright sunlight on the most humid day of the year, in a glass which is wet with rinse water, and allowing the acetone to evaporate. Conditions like that.

 

Bath was too long? Not pure acetone (nail polish remover)?

 

It was pure Acetone. As far as time I don't know if it matters much.

 

The area under whatever the acetone removed did not tone the same as the rest of the coin.

 

Well it was in the cheap pvc packaging for over 40 years. It's no big deal, only a $10 coin. I'll just get another one.

 

Yep, what the other have said.
The acetone removed the PVC which exposed the damage underneath that the PVC had done.

 

This is kind of lame though. I wanted to start an Ike collection and if I have to spend a lot of time conserving Brown and Blue Ike's then I am not excited.

 

Did the U.S. mint ever use PVC for its packaging? I think they've used cellophane, polyester, and various hard, clear plastics (polystyrene, acrylic, maybe polycarbonate).

Cal

 

I didn't think they used any PVC with the Ike's but figured the OP coin must have had something on it.

 

The dealer said the plastic was PVC

 

If the packaging was the packaging in the pic, I'm pretty sure it's not PVC. The PVC that causes problems is PVC that has been made soft and flexible with the addition of various plasticizers. PVC itself can be manufactured to be pretty inert, which is why it can be used for pipes approved to carry drinking water. High grade PVC w/o plasticizers is rigid. It can be manufactured clear, but I don't think clear, rigid PVC has been used for coin packaging.

I don't think the capsule in the pic is sonically sealed, so no knowing the history of the coin before it last entered the coffin.

Cal

 

I threw it in the airtite. It came in the mint packaging in the Blue envelope. The plastic it came in was PVC according to dealer.

 

Interesting. It seems reasonable to think that the original sealed plastic from the Mint is airtight, so whatever affected the coin was either present when it was sealed, or the plastic in which you received it wasn't original and it got exposed sometime later. Did it still include the Mint token in the packaging you bought?

 

Yes, it had the token. It was Legit.

 

Cellophane packaging not PVC

 

The coin likely had something on it. I've seen ones with spots and fingerprints, etc. The mint didn't give these first year silver Ike's any type of special handling which leads to a lot of them being sub par. You really have to pick through to find the true gems imo.

 

Make it a pocket piece.

After a few decades you'll have a nicely worn blue Ike. VERY rare! That is, not many silver Ikes get circulated.

 

The screwy thing is the coin didn't look too bad until I actetoned it. I still can't figure out what happened. If it was cellophane and not PVC why did the acetone make it worse?

 

Did the coin rub against anything when you gave it the acetone bath?