Is Acetone concidered a coin cleaner ?

I know that acetone cleans coins, but the question is, does it clean the coin to the affect that it changes the coins value as does abrasive cleaning.

 

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Only if it effects the surfaces by over dipping. Otherwise, it is perfectly acceptable.

 

Thanks Kirkuleez. Ummmm ! Over dipping ? I ws under the impression that acetone was a mild cleaner. Is it harmful to leave your coins in for an extended period ? How long is too long ?

 

Acetone is a mild cleanser, but it will wash out the luster after an extended time. This will make it look very unnatural. This is particularly true with uncirculated and copper coins. Speaking of which, I have never had any luck with dipping coppers, they always look unnatural after any cleaning attempt beyond using verdicare.

 

Acetone can not dissolve or react with metals without a user imposing environmental/chemical situations far from normal coin environments. However, it can produce haze appearance if rinsing with fresh acetone is not done and dissolved materials redeposit on the surface ( very apparent with proofs ~rinse well with fresh acetone and hold vertical by the edge until air dry ), AND it can remove any previous 'toning' that is not a natural metal reactant, such as smoke ( cigars, etc), artists colors, tints, etc. Then the underlying color appears different and the owner thinks the acetone changed the color, when it just removed the fake coloration. Use only 99% or better acetone , not that labeled acetone for fingernails. I use verdicare products also and the original formulation, I used acetone after removing verdegris, but when Thad went to his react formula, I stopped. Do not use water rinse after acetone as it just sets the coin up for damage. The acetone evaporates 100%, carrying any excess water with it. All my opinion from extensive use, your mileage may vary. Start with some pocket change for practice.

 

@desertgem will Verdicare remove carbon spots?

 

Perhaps it had another influence, but I know that I have forgotten coins in an acetone bath for a few days and they looked very flat afterwards. But what Jim said seems like a plausible explanation of what could have happened.

 

NO it won't react w/silver or gold only organic contaminants so just say nothing and let it evaporate outside without any rubbing/patting dry.You must use the PURE ACETONE you get from the hardware stores only.

 

Not in my experimentation, and the original formulation is for organic material so I would not expect it to be effective. Carbon spots are from a reaction with the coin metal, and gases in the air intensified by moisture. Why often sneeze saliva particles form a scattered pattern. Dips ( acid) tend to work on silver coins for this, but as the spots may be deeper than thought, you might destroy any luster with a dip. Copper with such spots, I just leave them alone.

 

Thankyou.

 

And you and you and you.

 

I only found ONE way to remove carbon spots....with a torch. I've tried almost every chemical known to man, NOTHING can remove carbon spots except for extreme heat.

 

That sounds like an easy way to ruin a coin very quickly.

 

"IF" there are any machine oils from the minting process on the coin, Acetone will remove those oils.

As for stripping luster in about 2 seconds with a coin dip, my experiences do not support that statement.

While it is true that coin dip such as E-Z-Est can ruin a coin, it takes a bit longer than 2 seconds. The real question is "How many 2 second dips has the piece already had?"

40% Silver coins are much more tolerant of dip than 90% Silver Coins. I don't know why.

As for Acetone haze? Multiple jars of acetone can eliminate that meaning a finalizing dip should be done in "fresh from the can" acetone.

 

More than 2 seconds on some coins is correct.

 

Yes it does! I did it a few times just to verify the spots were organic in nature and the coins came out funky looking....heat does odd things to copper. NOT RECOMMENDED!

 

That was from our old "modern woody" experiment. It showed the stripes/lines were embedded down into the planchet....pretty much proving my theory on how this occurs.

 

I find that even with only a 10 minute soak, acetone does wonders for removing an overly dirty appearance from a coin, while still leaving behind a completely original look. This is especially true for mint state coins, which will come out looking brighter and more pleasing. I strongly suspect that more than a few coins I've sent in for grading would have come back a point or two lower had I sent them in without an acetone bath first.

Inherently though, acetone is just safely removing contaminants and revealing what is underneath. If the contaminants are obscuring otherwise pleasing surfaces, you are increasing the value/marketability of the coin by removing them. If the contaminants are concealing problem surfaces, however, you may be decreasing the value/marketability of the coin.