I picked up a set of coins in a binder from a sale and the have a musty smell. How do I clean that off the coins? I have to remove them because I am afraid the plastic is PVC and want to protect the coins. The coins have a bit of "moldy" smelling gunk on a few. Any ideas?
That gunk is PVC residue, from using a certain type of plastic in the holder. Follow satootoko's advice and clean them carefully. Be sure not to be too rough with the coins.
They work really well, and remove any trace of residue, plus most of the coin. But, you don't have any smell left, nor any coin.
Au Contraire! The coin can be found in between the bristles on the brush. You clean enough silver coinage and you can sell the brush for melt! :mouth:
I'm surprised that noone asked what kind of coins they are. Copper coins will look cleaned if you use acetone on them unless they actually have green gunk on them I wouldnt clean them. You can't be sure it is PVC damage. It may just be a smell of mildew on the cardboard of the albums depending upon how they were stored. Acetone will work OK on silver. In either case, I would carefully experiment with one low valued coin of each type. I would also rinse in distilled water if you must clean a few and when drying, don't rub with a cloth containing polyester fibers, it will scratch the coins. I guess I am a little surprised that with no solid information that advice has been given that could destroy the value of a collection in a heartbeat. Thanks, it's just my humble opinion but if you need to conserve the coins, you need to research more carefully to discover what would be the best method for your particular coins. I think there is too much guesswork on this one. Thanks, Bill
Thanks for the info. I will try distilled water with soft cotton swaps and see if that helps. They are bronze and brass clad steel in material.
so you can get lots and lots of hairlines. Polyester cloth is to cotton cloth or swabs as a brass brush is to a toothbrush - the difference is in how bad they scratch.
After rinsing the coin should be gently placed on a soft cloth and air dried. A hair dryer on low setting works quite well. Also, be sure to handle the coin only by the edge and for uncirculated coins or proofs, you should wear lightweight white cotton gloves, available from most coin dealers and any coin collecting supply outfit. Good luck, and be careful.
I would suggest Fabreze but not sure how to spell it. Those brushes will actually not work. They will not get rid of the odor. You first must take the album outside and spray with RAID. After a dosage of RAID, try a good spray disinfectant. Now you've got rid of bugs and germs. Next try Brut Anti-perspirant. I use it under my arms and no odors. Now your ready for the final touch. Go take a shower and take that album in with you. Hang the now wet album outside and be sure it is in sunlight. Of course you should first remove all those coins from the album. It is the album that smells and coin don't have an odor. At least most don't. Put those coins aside and concentrate on making a great, odor free album. As for those coins, just stick to the distilled water and blow dry. Do not brush, scrub, rub, etc. Just rinse and blow dry. You may have a valuable album there.
