It might gum up the rubber/silicone/plastic seal on the flat part of the lid, but that will definitely keep the acetone from evaporating for a good while.
As @-jeffB mentioned, the acetone will eat the seal. I use doubled tin-foil over the jar and then screw the rim ring on. It will hold the acetone for a very long time. Oh, on another note, DON'T reuse acetone. The impurities in the used solution can affect other coins down the road. It's cheap enough to always use fresh acetone.
For keeping acetone from evaporating, I have just set something flat over the open mouth...it don't take much.
I'll remember this for down the road, I have a few LWCs that'll be good for practice. In a few moments now after I finish my supper I'll be finishing the acetone soak and see where I should go from there.
I started cleaning it after I brought it out of the acetone, and it looks much better. However, some of the stuff is still difficult to remove, so I'm putting it back so that after my trap meet tomorrow morning I can finish cleaning it. I figured a few extra hours couldn't hurt and it's late anyway. Here's how they look as of my putting them back in:
I think experimenting in "restoring" coins, like you are, is a valuable lesson. It shows what the coin underneath looks like and how the removal of the "dirt" can affect the surface of a coin. Good job Noah.
Back with another update: After the soak, I had rolled the Q-Tips over it just as suggested, and some more of the stuff came off of it but not all of it. I believe Verdi-Care is the cleaning agent I would need to get rid of the stubborn parts, as well as the black that's all around the rim and a little bit on the obverse. I know that the surface will look slightly "unnatural" after all the corrosion is removed, but I think a way to remedy to that has been found by another member of this forum. I don't remember who, but I remember reading a thread where a member here kept a cleaned IHC in his sock and it returned to a brown color, rather than a bright unnatural color. If mine ends up garishly bright after the cleaning, I may do the same. Verdi-Care is 15$ on Wizard Coin Supply, so I am willing to fork over the cash if need be, but I'd be more ready to buy an alternative on Amazon if one exists, since I have a gift card and @Insider recommended not spending any more than five bucks. If someone has had good luck with something from Amazon, I would be grateful for a recommendation. However, if I can only get results using Verdi-Care, that's what I'll do. Here is the coin after I am completely done with the acetone:
I don't think Verdi-Care is likely to do anything about the black deposits. It only works on verdigris, which is greenish. (That's a good thing; any agent that attacks the dark toning would necessarily leave the coin an unnatural color.) I also think you misunderstood Insider's comment -- ICG has a special for CT members that slabs coins for $10 each, and offers conservation services for an additional $5. He can't really advertise it in regular threads, but he's posted before and after shots of a coin that he DID conserve, and... well, $5 is a screaming bargain for that service. You'd need to experiment on a lot of coins, over a period of years, to develop that level of skill.
You don't say? How do I send it in? That sounds like a fantastic deal if you ask me! So it sounds like if I were to use Verdi-Care, it would get rid of the grayish sort of buildup but not the black spots. I suppose that's better than nothing, but this is the only coin I'd use it on. Heck, for 15 bucks I'd send in the three-cent, too!
Send a PM to Insider. It'll be more than $15 once you add shipping and so forth, but he can fill you in on the details.
You are doing a great job. Keep up the good work. Next, soak it in MS-70 and let's see what that does. The difference between Noah the "conservator" and Noah the "coin doctor" is the time/method used to make the coin presentable. A coin doctor would "strip" it down to a pink copper surface and then recolor it. All in a short period of time.
Noah, before anything else, you might try using xylene. It will dissolve organic deposits that acetone will not. Like acetone, it is volatile, flammable, and easily available at your hardware store in quart cans. It is also safe to use on copper coins. Follow the same safety and application methods you used with acetone.
If you do, do it outside and wear protective gear. Indoors, that stuff can kill you with off gassing. Make sure to dispose of it properly. No. Don't do that as it will eat all of the metal away. LOL As for putting it in a sock; Was that a used sock, or clean one? LOL Actually, putting it in the window that gets the most sun might speed up the toning, or place in a manila envelop for a prolonged amount of time.
Thank you, I'll be ordering some MS-70. Should MS-70 also work on the three-cent, or should I leave that alone? It doesn't necessarily look bad, but if it's damaging to the coin I'd try the MS-70 on it.
Try the same ting you do to the large cent. Acetone & MS-70 soak. We use several chemicals besides those on nickel as needed.