Reaching out to the experienced members of our group. This is a recent auction purchase. It needs a cleansing. If you recommend Acetone, where should I purchase it? Are there different concentrations of Acetone? Different brands? How long should it soak? Use a Q-tip? Any and all advice will be appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Tibor, to this day I still haven't attempted to "conserve" a coin but have given it some serious thought and have picked up everything I would use... Lab grade acetone and petri dish... Verdi-care, polish mate wipes (dab/not swipe), etc... As a collector, I just can't seem to bring myself to it yet for coins of similar age... For what I paid in supplies (again, as a collector) I'd be better off sending in the few coins I want to help, for conservation and slab (imho). Wishing you the best of outcomes either way.
Concerning acetone and what it will and will not do. Acetone will not harm the metal of your coin. It is not corrosive, it is just a solvent like water. It will remove many organic contaminants from the coin's surface. This can be good, to reveal detail, and bad, to reveal scratches and dings. Lab grade acetone is quite expensive and not necessary. Don't use fingernail polish remover because they may contain perfumes and lubricants to keep ladies' skin from drying out. Hardware stores sell pure acetone and that is sufficient. Get some and try it on a "test" coin that has little value. Let us see how it did. If the stuff on the surface isn't organic, acetone will do nothing. Some organic material is better removed by xylene (many hardware stores have this too).
I always give the coin a bath for an hour or so in distilled water first, then rinse under a tap. If it has removed some, then I do it again in a fresh batch. Only then, if required will I give it a rinse in acetone to try and remove any remaining organic material.
