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Message:: [QUOTE="Conder101, post: 1511189, member: 66"]The real answer is that you should always try the gentlest methods first and usually the first thing you want to try is to just dissolve the contaminants away starting with plain distilled water then working up through Acetone, Xylol, and Methylethyl ketone etc.  Any type of abraision or rubbing is the absolute last resort and in most cases if you have to get to that it isn't worth doing.  Most likely your tar and gunk would probably have come loose with one of the three organic solvents I mentioned.  And as for whether or not the gunk would have damaged the luster, well that all depends on what the gunk was made of and whether or not it would have reacted with the metal chemically.  Many oily based gunks don't.  But water based ones especially if they contain dissolved salts and acids will react with the metal. It was a joke dealing with "intent" which is often used as a way to justify ignore something you did so as to gain a benefit. You put a coin into and environment where it will most likely tone  "I didn't INTEND for it to tone so it is not Artificial toning.""I didn't INTEND to clean the coin, so it isn't cleaned." But  that kind of logic can work against you. "I didn't INTEND to find a cud when I removed the grime so I guess that isn't a cud." Jokes lose a lot when they have to be explained.[/QUOTE]