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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Maxfli, post: 24889447, member: 69089&quot;]Acetone is an organic solvent, and is effective at removing organic gunk that sometimes accumulates in the devices of older circulated coins, as well as less visible pollutants that can collect on the surfaces of raw coins over time, even uncirculated coins. Acetone only interacts with substances ON the coin, not the coin itself, so, despite claims to the contrary, it doesn’t alter the coin in any way.</p><p><br /></p><p>Xylene is another organic solvent that can be used as an alternative to acetone. I’m not a chemist and can’t expound on the differences, but it’s been said on this forum that if you use acetone and it doesn’t work, then try xylene, and vice-versa.</p><p><br /></p><p>In my experience, acetone (and xylene) can be safely used to remove foreign matter from silver, copper, and cupro-nickel coins without having any effect on the surfaces of the coins themselves and without changing the color of the coins. So, it’s not going to give you the bright, shiny look I think you’re seeking. </p><p><br /></p><p>Bronze coins might be another matter.</p><p><br /></p><p>I had two bronze coins — a 1958 Ghana penny and a 1930s British India ¼ anna — come out of acetone baths with mottled coloring and a slightly pink-ish hue in places (sorry, I didn’t photograph or keep the coins). So it begs the question if the tin content was a factor. The Ghana coin is said to be 1.5% zinc, so maybe that was a factor too. From that point on, I started with xylene on any bronze coin that needed to be de-gunked, just to play it safe.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>I have no experience with these. If you’re curious, buy some and experiment with coins that have no collector value. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Distilled water won’t do much beyond dislodging common dirt. As for removing the &quot;dark/almost black&quot; patina, there’s nothing I know of that will restore the “fresh from the mint” look to copper and bronze coins. Anything you do to remove it will give you a coin that looks like this:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1598795[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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