Acetone Cleaning -- Your thoughts?

Cream of tarter is an acid.

 

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I could see where it might be used as a wash before minting proofs but that would require a separate wash to leave the surface stable.

 

I actually forget where I heard that, but being an odd name, I guess that's why it stuck.

Larry: I think that's it, it was in reference to proofs.

 

There are water soluble oils. The mint uses them according to a CW article and rinses them off with an alcoholic solution. I am allergic to turpentine and synthetics of turpentine, so when I use oil paints for my class, I use those with water soluble linseed oil as a base. They can be diluted with water, but only to about 5-10%. brushes can be cleaned with water ( and a little detergent). As the mint found out, purity of solutions has to be maintained to prevent those ugly spots.

Jim

 

Now, answering your question is more difficult because the mint is very tight lipped about about giving out such information. Quite often they flat out refuse to divulge the information.



Lord...all the employees of the mint must double as some CT members. God forbid a straight answer can just "come about" the first time around.:headbang:

 

I have quit taking calls from the mint on these subjects. They have no sense of humor. I told them that if they used cream of Tartar, they would get milky spots.

Jim

 

Sure, I get it. Hell, you're the one who talked me into it, and that was quite some time ago. As a general proposition, I believe it's best to let the coins alone. But, now, let's get down to concrete cases. There's a market out there that's accepting of cleaned coins, dipped coins, as well as "doctored-toning," so long as that manipulation isn't too apparent. What do we do about that, ignore it? As such, in spite of the aforesaid, I'm open to "techniques," let's just call them, that "make the grade," and are otherwise looked on as "market acceptable."

One more thing. It would be a mistake to take that to mean I'm intolerant of more exacting standards. I'm definitely not. Take it, rather, to mean, I'm accepting of the reality of "market acceptable" cleaning, dipping and toning, as well as open to learning the foregoing "techniques," to the extent I can.

 

Would high pressure "air" (like the ones I always hear being used in coin shops) constitute damage?
What foreign substance is it that they are trying to remove?
(I don't think they're blow drying their hair but I could be wrong)
Doug..with all due respect..an analogy of what you would probably say if asked. I'd say, Doug..? What would be the best method to avoid drowning if I were to fall into the water? You'd say something like..well Tom..the best answer I could give you, would be simply to not go into the water. Could one possibly try swimming or not breathing under the water? Perhaps.......but consider this..how do you know what method of survival was ATTEMPTED the last time someone fell into the water and more importantly... did it even work? The answer is..you don't know, of course..and how could you?...and even if you did..how do you know what the circumstances surrounding the fall were? Were they pushed in? Did they just fall off a dock or were they dropped from a plane? Was it salt water? It makes a big difference because salt water has a different buoyancy than fresh water, and if the attempt was a failure...how do you know it was indeed from drowning in the water? Maybe it was from the pressure that was exerted on their back or neck when they hit the water? Maybe the said water source was frozen solid and they just split their head open? Maybe they fell onto a whale...went for a ride for several days before falling victim to de-hydration? Perhaps they were pecked to death by a small flock of sparrows and were already dead when they hit the water? If the attempt was successful and they told you that they had swum in....how do you know they weren't just carried to shore by a passing turtle? Or several? How do we know that the swift
current didn't just "push" them in and they only thought they were swimming.? Maybe a tidal wave snapped them through the air and they simply landed onshore after bouncing off a billboard? The point is that there are circumstances, conditions and all sorts of variables they cannot be duplicated exactly every time, or even twice. So you see Tom...this is a very difficult question to resolve, depending on the circumstances, so no generic answer is really possible. I could tell you to hold your breath and try swimming but it's far too simplistic and one scenario is different from another, and therefore really the answer, as I stated earlier, is to not go into the water as I wouldn't want to mislead the novice swimmer. YES, anything MAY be done falling into the water is best left to the professional swimmer. You see my point.

This is how this whole "cleaning" subject seems to be approached by you and many others (when not completely ignored or very generally answered) at least from my perspective. I hope you see the point (as well as the humor):desk:
I love your knowledge and experience..just not your evasiveness and presumptions when it comes to information to this subject. I read all your posts (and others of the same obvious caliber) and consider them invaluable to me as a semi novice. They're always interesting, even when I disagree (though they do aggravate the hell out of me because there's considerable facts and opinions to the contrary).

 

Well Doug..start with presumptions you presume whomever asks a question pertaining to our favorite subject here, that they will likely mess up their coins (or at least most of them) Evasive..well..for one..why wouldn't you answer the question at the top of the page? evasive-you only talk about parts of posts that you wish to address, not always what the poster is asking. Evasive in that you only occasionally answer a question directly.

 

Doug..you asked for examples. There are both in the first lines of this my last lengthy post. I asked...What is the high pressure air used for and what substances are they trying to remove? You addressed neither. (that should demonstrate the evasive part but perhaps it was an oversight). Presumptive was addressed already and I guess we disagree on whether it is actually presumptive or it is you and your experience. I think it is very presumptive to assume that one will ruin their coins before you even know the conditions/circumstances that would be taking place, as you have pointed out to us coin killers in the past. Someone asks if they can clean a coin. Your first response is that they will likely screw it up (again,before you know who or how or anything). Theoretically, it could be a representitive of a professional coin service asking and you've already shot him or her down for simply asking. Doug..not everyone has the resources to collect only MS coins, and I personally would never mess with MS coins for that matter, but circulated is whole other story. Yeah you can mess them up just as easily, BUT, there are ways that it is done.
Boss demonstrates some. I have suggested one in particular that I know works and is ignored, probably because noone really sat down and tried it and it is counter to your way of thinking. I don't know. That's cool though, now that I understand the cemented line of thought. I guess mine is cemented as well.

 

Not answering for Doug, but using air pressure with small orifice jets can dislodge grit and grime ( dirt, sand, organic oils, bodily secretions, etc. ) if such is loosely held on the coin. But the caution ( yes, I know that is one of your peeves )is that it can function as a 'sandblaster', just as haphazardly pushing grime around with a toothpick can. The dirt/grime can have abrasive action on the coin surface. I would rate it below the "green rose thorn/liquid lubricant" technique myself since the latter tends to lift off some and suspend it. IMO.

In case anyone is interested, I have taken a Waterpik(tm) , fashioned a smaller orifice from a tuberculin needle, and used a Voltage regulator to put 140V to it, and it would only remove part of the gunk. Felt guilty about returning it to Costco, so I kept it.

Jim

 

LOL..very good JIm...I almost wrote that down.

 

Well, not to get off the "acetone" thing.....

For as long as this post has been going on I have soaked (a very good die-clash penny, 1857 Flying eagle cent, 1983 Canadian Lg.Cent, and 1836 Lg. cent) in vigin olive oil for a week and a half. The next thing I did was cleaned off the oil in soapy water. Now I am going to set them on my windowsill for awhile until I am satisfied or someone tries to steal them After that I will post the "after pics" Hopefully this post will be over.
By the way, these coins were "cleaned" for some reason or another.(all bad I am sure)

 

HAHAHAHA....that's awesome, I've often wondered about trying that method. I guess it was a failure?