cleaning coins

I have read that acetone is best for cleaning coins. After reading all the warnings on the can I am looking for the best and safest way to use acetone,

 

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Depends what kind of cleaning you want to do. It's best at times to not clean your coins. If so you can ruin them.

 

Why do you want to clean them? Pictures?

 

Depends a lot on how many you are cleaning. Regardless of number, I would start with a water soak/rinse, including a distilled/deionized water rinse before any acetone. For small numbers of coins, use glass, cover it and dispose of the residue carefully. For larger amounts, similar but probably work outside.

 

I acetone my bullion coins, that's about it.

 

Or for the "war on drugs"...

On the other hand, perhaps, "just do it" was a more fitting motto after all.

 

Depends on what is on the coin that you are trying to remove. As far as safety, acetone should be used in a ventilated area away from possible sources of ignition. Getting a little on your fingers won't hurt anything though. The important thing is to not rub the surfaces of the coin you are cleaning.

 

I know the old timers are horrified at the thought, but some ugly, black toned silver coins do look better with a gentile cleaning.

 

Whatever ya do, don't put that stuff in an Styrofoam cup.......

Use an relish container (cleaned in the dishwasher) along with the jar lid, so you can close things up for a long soak. The stuff evaporates quite quickly.

 

You're right, a lot of people won't think that's kosher.

 

I acetone bathe quite a few coins that come from questionable storage situations. I equate it to giving them a bath to knock of the nasty pvc/other contaminants before sticking them in new non-pvc flips, airtites, or sending them off to the slab factory if that is their fate.

I'm not dipping/altering them (if something needs true conservation I'll send it to NCS), just washing them off. I don't get it when people object to a simple bath--far better than leaving PVC slime on the coins.

I now have a collection of shot glasses and small glass cups/bowls of various sizes with rounded bottoms to allow for various sized coins and medals. The rounded aspect allows them to sit with more exposed surface area (a new trick for me learned by reading this forum).

edited to add: By having some dedicated glasses and bowls that in no way resemble our normal eating/drinking dishes is also an important safety backup. No confusion if it's a coin dish or a people dish!

Be in a ventilated room--I used to do this in the kitchen until I started thinking about what might happen if I left one to soak and someone lit up the gas burners...

 

Thanks for all the input I am working on some jewelry using coins The sealant I am using protectaclear on the coins suggests using xylene or denatured alcohol to remove any traces of residue to get a good seal but I am concerned with all the warnings on these products

 

If you're turning the coins into jewelry, "don't clean coins" isn't really relevant. Cleaning coins can ruin them from a collector's point of view, but so does turning them into jewelry. So we may not be the best people to ask for advice.

Denatured alcohol and acetone are each pretty safe, as long as you make sure you're in a ventilated area and keep away sources of ignition. Don't drink or huff them, and don't smoke while using them.

 

I got a common Walking Liberty half dollar (1943) and made a necklace out of it for my girlfriend. The chain and bezel are sterling silver and it looks great. She wears it a lot and it gets tarnished fast. We just put Tarnex on it to clean it up. It's a jewelry piece and a common coin so we don't worry about it.

 

Thanks for "cleaning up" some of my questions too. Think I've been messing up. When I get a new year coin or something in great condition I would rub it in a soft cotton cloth. It really brightens it up and takes and acid from fingers off the surface. You've seen the "10 year old fingerprint" right? Was hoping to eliminate that. They look fine under 7x mag but should I stop doing this? Any thoughts???

 

It's not really the "soft cotton cloth" that damages it. Let's do an analogy...your car is really dusty, so you wipe it down with a really soft cotton cloth. The cloth doesn't do the damage, the grit you scrub around does. Rinsing with just about any pure liquid won't harm any coin. If you really wanted to be anal retentive, you could rinse with acetone, rinse with hot running tap water and then with distilled water and PAT or PRESS dry with a soft cloth.

 

I am a fan of Brighto - it makes old bodies new.