Another HARCO Horror Story

Today’s tale is “Another HARCO Horror Story!!”

So, I dug out my old coin albums that have been in storage for about 40 or more years from when I collected as a kid from about 8 years old until about 12 years old (kind of stopped just after the Bicentennial) and then years later got into Currency collecting.

Fast forward to last week when I looked through the books and saw all that lovely green shmootz on a lot of the coins.. at first I thought it was my fault because Yes, as a nine year old, I thought cleaning some of my coins with my mom’s Noxon metal polish was a good idea because it made them shiny!!

Anyway… after doing some research I learned that these HARCO albums were more likely the culprit.. *sigh*… so now I’m looking to try and clean them up and get new albums. None of the coins are in great condition to begin with as most of them were circulation finds and a few were Christmas presents from my dad etc.. it was really a kids collection but I do want to fix them up.

I’ve read that using Acetone is a way to get the green off and wanted to ask if that was the only solution or is it the best one? And does it take a long time? Is it a hassle? And lastly, I seem to read that the Dansco albums are the best way to go, is that correct??

Thx

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Get that silver dip from Walmart. Swish it around for a few seconds, rinse with clear water. Try a couple and see.

 

I haven't tried it but MS70 dip (quickly) seems to be a preferred treatment for these things. I have done an acetone soak on an SLQ with some odd gunk on it, it didn't do much, but that's not to say it might not help you, remember to use glass, cover it with glass or aluminum foil rubber banded on and then do a quick rinse with acetone after. I've seen horror stories with Dansco and Whitman folders too - so called "Album toning" around the edges seems a frequent outcome to long term storage. Honestly you are probably best served with decent flips stored in a 3 ring binder in holders. Good luck!

 

Cool, thanks.. actually heading out the door right now, will get some and give it a try

 

Thanks, I see there is also something called "EZest"...

I think for now, I'm gonna take all the coins out of the album and put them in tubes until I figure out what I want to do.. I think I may just put together a "Type" set and get one really nice example of each coin denomination instead of having six half-full albums of poor to medium grade coins

 

Those are known to cause PVC corrosion. It looks like there isn't much you can do with those. The PVC eats into the coins surface.
Acetone should be all that you need to remove it.

 

I think you are going to have fun with all that sticky, smelly PVC. I use acetone on better coins, and white ammonia (lemon fresh will make the coins smell pretty) would be easiest to get rid of PVC for The Junk stuff. **Warning**The ammonia may give them a cleaned appearance. Use safe practices when using all chemicals.

 

No, no, not dip (EZest) for PVC damage, and generally not for circulated silver like this, period.

Silver dips remove tarnish, but they'll leave circulated coins with an unnatural color/texture. If you want to try it, experiment with coins you don't care about first.

"Active PVC" deposits are lumps of soft-to-liquid organic chemicals containing hydrochloric acid. To get rid of them, you want an organic solvent. Acetone is the go-to solvent for this. You can get it at Walmart or your hardware store.

Put it in a glass or polypropylene container that you can cover tightly. If you don't have a container with a lid, put aluminum foil over it, and seal it tightly; otherwise, the acetone evaporates quickly, and the vapors are flammable.

Let the coins soak for an hour or two, and see if the deposits are gone. You can let them soak for hours or days if you need to.

When you take them out, rinse them with acetone, then stand them on edge or put them on a soft towel to try.

Doug (@GDJMSP) recommends a three-bowl process: soak them in one bowl of acetone, then dip them in a second bowl of acetone, then dip them in a third bowl of acetone. That's probably more effective than pouring acetone over them, and it's safer and more efficient. Each subsequent bowl greatly dilutes the residue from the previous stage. By the time they come out of the third bowl, they're ready to drip and dry.

 

What @-jeffB said. Acetone only.......

Then toss those album pages in the trash.....

 

Have the Dansco albums changed over the years? Are the new ones okay?

 

I too used Harco albums in my younger days. I loved the way they displayed the edges on the Lincolns, Mercs and Peace dollars that I collected from circulation. In the 70's I began noticing the green slime on the rims of some of the Lincolns and Mercs. The dollars were not yet affected. I dipped the affected ones in KoinSolve and wiped the slime from the edges. Back then the active ingredient in Koinsolve was benzene but they've since changed that. I put the coins into Kointains and back into the Harcos. No problem since. The dollars are now in Lighthouse Intercept snaplocks. Here's one of the worst.

 

Thanks for the tips.. I found some Pure Acetone in the cabinet, will give it a try

 

Benzene was highly effective, just a shame about the leukemia and anemia and immune suppression. I got a bottle of it during my chemistry phase. I don't remember if I took the remaining bit to hazmat, or if I simply used it up.

 

Yikes. Pure acetone.

 

So, I took the Quarters pictured above out of the album and although they feel a little sticky, a lot of the green stuff was actually on the plastic and not as much on the coins as I first thought, so it might not be as difficult to snazz 'em up

 

Hi Skippy, just going to say you'd want to address the situation on the coins as soon as you can, taking them out of the album is a good first step, but don't leave them sitting like that even if it doesn't look too bad. the softeners from the PVC are still doing their work on the coins surface. Maybe it won' be difficult and have a good result, just saying take care of it, don't say "it's not too bad", then stick them in non-pvc coin flips or 2x2s and look at them in another 20 years, because it will be "that bad". hahaha they've been in the toxic environment for them, they've got to be cleaned up before storing them again or the mess is still there.

 

Thanks, I'm gonna do it this weekend and take care of it, then toss those albums. Hopefully won't be too much of a hassle

 

I'd also advise against putting them in tubes before you address the PVC. Otherwise, it'll transfer, and you'll have double-edged problems.

 

I also had this problem with Roosevelt dimes. A soak in acetone and they looked like new. No need for e-zest.