How to get this gunk off

What does the acetone actually do to the PVC? Dissolve it?

 

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Yes, it does. The dissolved pvc plasticizers and other organic material is in the used acetone solution. That is why the used solution should not be reused, and a final rinse of the coin should be done with clean pure acetone, so no dissolved material reattaches to the coin as the acetone evaporates.

Jim

 

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

verdigone is good but i still prefer biox for my indian coins although there are a couple that are biox resistant. i think the guy is charging too much for verdigone IMHO all coins deserve to be conserved but the price makes it a big barrier.

 

So would it work on that IHC?

 

Hey, Boss, didn't see this question, didn't mean to miss ya. In my spare time from CoinTalk I actually try and get work done sometimes. :goofer:

Anywho, I see one of our resident chem experts, Jim, answered the technical part. On that 4.6 pH, that's just an FDA recommendation for "acidified" food manufacturers (i.e., the guys who pack stuff like fresh-cut veggies in oil). Water activity in those things has to be below .83, too, whatever that means (I'm not a food manufacturer, just an eater). The addition of acid to those food products, FDA believes, is necessary, in order to choke off harmful bacteria, which, as aforementioned, breeds in that oxygen-starved environment. That's different from yeast or mold, understand, which requires, among other things, oxygen to form, and a common example of which is that blueish/white stuff associated with unprocessed cheeses, and which will usually only at worst give you a mild tummy ache if you didn't scrape it off and you eat it. They're "bringing up" the pH of the medium, the oil...not the veggies. For the veggies their thingy is keeping that water activity under .83. And there you have it.

 

What makes you think it was cleaned?

 

Oh that's a good point. The only thing I still am not sure about the "squiggly lines." It looks to me like it's just fingerprints, maybe the result of cleaning, but not the acid itself...

 

Would the E-Z-est remove its patina as well?

 

From my experience, vinegar should take of the green "stuff". Don't leave it in there too long. Please note that just a few minutes over time can turn the coin a horrible color, so practice on common and "worthless" coins first, and get the idea on how to clean it with vinegar.

 

Then I think I'll stick with acetone.

 

I tried it and nothing happened...