I bought several Whitman coin folders of pennies, dimes and nickels. The pennies feel like there is a greasy film on them and most have some sort of something that looks like grease. They were in a house that they smoked in. Is it better to just try water and a very soft cloth or acetone? And would acetone change the color of the penny? Gary
Pure acetone should remove any nicotene or contaminants from the coins. Be sure not to rub the coins. Acetone will evaporate very quickly and leave the coins nice and dry. As far as I know, acetone is safe to use on any metal and only removes contaminants from the surface.
I would try it out on a few of the common coins first, Just to be sure you can live with the results.
what is acetone? and where would i get some.I have a few very very dark almost black coloured coins some are in the 1700s.And to be honest you cant read nothing of them there so dark.So in this case i feel they should be cleaned otherwise i wouldnt.So where do i get acetone and how do i brighten these up without ruining them and without making them look so cleaned.
I would NOT clean a 1700's coin myself. Pure acetone should be found at the hardware store in the paint Dept.
the coin is so black it cannot be seen, i have about 20 like this it has no value the way it is, no point in a coin so black you cannot see what it is.like this is just trash
Have them looked at by a pro before you touch them. You might be suprised. A professional cleaning might be the only way to preserve these coins value. Again, I would NOT clean a coin that old myself.
Acetone can also be found in beauty supply stores- it's used to dissolve artificial nails. Just be careful if you do decide to use it to clean your coins, the stuff is so flammable even the vapors can catch fire! Rachel
duckwalliper it is diffrent here in the uk, a 1700's coin is not that old here.A 1700s usa coin would be diffrent but in the uk that age of coin is not old and most are not rare either, Though of course they will have value.
Well my coins seem to get clean when I forget to take them out of my pants before a wash. ok bad joke. Seriously highlander if you go to the main page and type in "cleaning coins" into Search the Forum you will be given a wealth of information to sort thru.
Highlander this is for you True story While visiting the UK we stopped at Winsor Castle; My wife and I were admiring the grounds and managed to meeet the grounds keeper. We asked him how he was able to keep his lawns so nice- He replied It's easy first you plow up the ground, Then you plant the seed, Then you water and mow it for 300 years, He finished by asking "How old is your lawn" Point the UK has been making coins for a lot longer than the US but coins worldwide have their beauty. By the way have you heard that France is asking kids and parents to empty their piggybanks of loose change to be donated for the Tusnami. Boy would I like to have a look at all of the coins that are going to go to banks and be missed by collectors. Richard
I am very sorry if I gave incorrect information. As I understood it, acetone doesn't react with any metal and would prevent further damage. GD, what course of action would you take with these coins?
Personally - I would never dip any coin in acetone. But there is a large segment of the collecting community that feels it is harmless. But not with copper. Silver, gold, platinum or clad coins - yes. But never copper. Copper is weird - it reacts strangely to almost anything. It can turn all sorts of colors when it comes in contact with a substance that might not appear to hurt other coins. It can also develop a quite unappealing green patina. What would I suggest - other than distilled water, to be honest I don't know. I don't think there is anything you can safely use to dip copper other than water. But then - I don't dip or clean coins - ever. If I ever found a coin of mine that was contaminated - I'd sell it or give it away.
Unfortunately, I don't think distilled water will remove the nicotine film. That's hard to get off of anything unless you use ammonia (which I am absolutely not suggesting for coins )
Well I rather doubt it's nicotine to begin with. If the coins were in Whitman folders - and assuming the folders were closed when stored - nicotine from the air would not be able to settle on the coins. But years ago it did use to be a common practice to place a film of oil on coins to protect them. So I think the OP's original comment is likely accurate - it is grease or oil. And to take that off a solvent would be required usually. And that would damage the coins.
Thank you for the replies. I will get out some parking lot pennies ( I clean parking lots, so I have plenty !!) and see what happens with acetone and other stuff and let you know. Maybe some before and after pictures ? Gary
