GDJMSP, posted: "In the sense you're thinking about - no, it does not. But that's because what you're thinking about is "harsh/improper cleaning" - not "cleaning". But in reality, yes, acetone absolutely counts as cleaning a coin. Ya see, when people talk about cleaning a coin, probably 98 out of a 100 times what they're really talking about is harshly and or improperly cleaning a coin. And that's bad, it's always bad. Cleaning, or proper cleaning if you prefer, on the other hand is almost always a good thing for it protects our coins by removing harmful or potentially harmful contaminants and or toning from the the coin. There are 4 basic and perfectly acceptable methods for properly cleaning a coin. All of them are good. 1 - distilled water 2 - acetone 3 - xylene 4 - coin dip As for harsh/improper cleaning, there are literally more ways than you can count ! And all of them are bad !" And to clarify something I believe Doug implied,,, if not done/used properly each of these CAN also damage (improper cleaning) your coin.
How do you hold the coin in the cleaner? Putting the coin in a basket is likely to cause damage, right? I can imagine some tap water wouldn't cause damage, but ours is usually chlorinated to some degree. I wouldn't dream of using it for a good coin. Distilled water is cheap and plentiful. Xylem is the part of a tree that carries water and nutrients up and down. Don't use it on your coins.
I caught that also. I WOODn’t use it on coins either! I’m sure Colonialjohn meant xylol, which is an ‘old school’ term for xylene.
FYI The link is to the Stony Brook Univ. Paper on the possible formation of acetic acid crystals under some very specific conditions (and something you're not likely to do with your coins unless you're very negligent). So far, this is the only paper I know of that shows any reaction between copper and acetone. BTW: They claim copper acts as a photocatalyst in the formation of acetic acid and not part of the reaction. However, if you were to leave your copper in acetone long enough for acetic acid concentrations to get high, it could then react with the copper https://vdocuments.site/photochemical-breakdown-of-acetone-on-copper.html
So you don't rinse off the coin with deionized or other water after using...maybe pat dry to avoid water spots...?
The Stony Brook University group that produced the paper was partially supported by a company who wanted to get people to not use acetone for copper fittings/pipe which was effective and cheap for a different product. Now whether this influenced the SBU group, I have no information, but I would have done differently when I was doing collegiate projects. Jim
Ya know, years ago when I first found that Stony Brook paper, and it took a lot of looking to find it, the only reason I was doing the looking to begin with was to find some scientific reference to what I, and many others, had been seeing happen with our own eyes for many years. Namely that copper sometimes reacts with acetone causing the copper to sometimes turn weird colors. I guess what I'm trying to say is, just because there aren't a lot of scientific references to something - that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. It merely means that few if any have ever written about it. And of course then there's the argument that it's not acetone reacting with the copper that sometimes causes the coins to turn weird colors. It's the acetone reacting with something else on the coin. And my answer to that argument is quite simple. It doesn't matter what the cause is, it only matters that it happens at all ! And that when you don't use acetone on copper, it never happens.
I have a number of copper coins which have been stored FAR too long in soft vinyl pages, in direct contact with the vinyl, not in 2x2s. There is clearly PVC damage. My question is, will Xylene take care of PVC damage as well as acetone? Steve
Xylene and acetone will both solubilize PVC. However, if it has already caused corrosion, there is no solvent to fix that problem.
As Scuba said, yes xylene will effectively and safely remove PVC residue. And it will also remove other things that acetone will not remove, various oil compounds for example. And that is why xylene is important, and necessary, when it comes to the proper cleaning of coins. The same thing is true with all 4 of the recommended cleaning solvents - distilled water, acetone, xylene, and coin dip. Each one if them is at one time or another the required and correct method to use because each of them will do things the others simply will not do.
I've read a lot of the posts regarding acetone or xylene on silver. The trials and tribulations of acetone on copper. How about nickel? What solvent is the safest and most effective on buffalo nickels?
Since a nickel is 75% copper and 25% nickel, you will likely be safe with xylene. Because of the low reactivity of the copper/nickel alloy, you will probably be OK with acetone, too. I use words like "likely" and "probably" because I've never used either solvent on a nickel, however I am relatively familiar with both solvents. So, please be sure to confirm my suggestions on some 'practice' pieces. As far as effectiveness, you'd need to know what you are trying to remove from the surface of the coin. Since this is usually impossible to determine easily, a 'broad spectrum' solvent (such as acetone or xylene) is usually employed.
This is true. But as mentioned, it's not always easy to determine exactly what you are trying to remove. So the safest bet is to think of the 4 methods - 1 - distilled water 2 - acetone 3 - xylene 4 - coin dip - as a ladder, with 1 being the first step. And if it doesn't work then you move on to the next step, and the next, etc.
