Proper acetone procedure

I live in a rural area and our water is supplied by a water co-op. They do not soften the water and as a result I have to use a lime cleaner on our faucets, shower head, dishwasher, etc. on a regular basis. you'd be surprised how quickly the lime and calcium build up. For our humidifier and coffee maker I use distilled water and have no problem whatsoever. Every chemical leaves behind a residue, especially if you just let it evaporate. That's why I have, for many years, always rinsed off a coin, with distilled water, that I have used acetone to remove PVC residue. As I matter of fact I rinse coins that are dirty with distilled water and pat them dry with a soft cloth. I don't know how long you may leave your distilled water sitting in a plastic jug, but we use it so often, it doesn't have time to pick up any contaminants from the jug. As I said in an earlier post, I have never had a TPGS reject a coin that I've used acetone on it. Acetone DOES NOT react with any metal only what's on the metal, unlike dip which does react with the metal.

Thanks for the kind comment on my 1964 PR69Cam Silver Kennedy, they are hard to get graded that high, no 1964 has ever graded a PR70. Now if I can just get one to grade PR69DCAM, I will have the Number 1 PCGS registry set for Proof silver Kennedy Half Dollars.

By the way, I tried using acetone on an Eisenhower silver dollar, from the brown box, and it removed that haze that some of them develop.

 

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This does not count. The original idea as proposed was that all coins submitted would be "cleaned" if needed to remove foreign material or the cleaning would raise the eye-appeal and grade. This was rejected.

"Upon Request" are the key words to the service the TPGS's performed. The two cases we are talking about are with permission or without permission.

Interesting bit of history. I learned that in the 1970's ANACS needed to call a few customers requesting to remove the black crud on some "key" coins in order to tell if the mint mark was added. They also got into big trouble when they removed the LIQUID PVC (w/o calling the customer) that a 1936 Proof was covered with in the flip! The coin was sold in auction as having "beautiful sea-green toning." ANACS had to pay up.

After that, a sentence was added to the submission form under the customer's signature line giving the authentication service permission to clean the coin if necessary for authentication - or something like that.

 

Yeah, but even if the acetone's evaporating quickly enough to keep the coin cool, it's still cranking out free radicals by the ton in the combustion zone. I think you'd be nuts to try it with any valuable coin. (But now I've got something else to add to my experimentation to-do list...)

 

http://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/your-own-breath-could-make-needle-sticks-thing-past-n722681

Make sure to tell the doc that you have bathed in acetone before you take the test.

 

For the disposing of the acetone and xylene part, what if you simply left them outside to vent and evaporate? Is that bad for the environment? Assuming that no critters get to it and it's nowhere near anything flammable, my first thought would be it shouldn't be an issue... they evaporate inside the home all the time, so wouldn't evaporation outside be fine if not better?

 

Actually a pretty good question. The levels are so low, it is a kind of "who cares" issue, but it would add bad stuff to the atmosphere. If you burned them, it would just be adding more CO2. To answer the question though, I favor the outside evaporation.

 

Yeah, the amount you evaporate won't amount to much, and it'll dissipate quickly -- as opposed to dumping it, where it could make a bigger mess over a small area.

There's a good bit of acetone coming and going in the atmosphere due to natural processes. Here, as in other areas, I think acetone's less harmful than xylene, but neither one is an environmental atrocity.

 

The best and most responsible disposal tool is a hot, concrete surface with full sun. Just pour it out and POOF. It has to go somewhere -- and the air is much better than water or soil. It will dissipate and Mother Nature will take care of it.

 

Is acetone the correct solution (no pun intended) for proof coins with haze and/or light fingerprints?

(I understand that, if the fingerprints have been there long enough, they are not going away regardless of how long I soak it)

 

I used acetone on a Eisenhower Dollar that , in the brown box holder, had become hazy. It took off the haze and the coin looked really good. I don't know about fingerprints, but it can't hurt to try. Remember, acetone doesn't effect metal.

 

It probably won't do anything for the fingerprints, but it won't hurt, either.

 

Thanks. And where would I buy xylene if the acetone doesn't work?

 

I got mine at Home Depot.

 

Is it really beneficial at all to start with distilled water, in theory or in practice?

I've been simply starting with acetone.

 

IMO, you can skip the water. You can skip the acetone also; however, since it cannot hurt the coin and will remove organic stuff on it, it cannot hurt so let's leave that step in. You see, Doug is correct to work in steps. The more contamination and oxidation you can remove before going to the next step the better. Most just dip the coin in one step. Although this usually works, on occasion there will be something on the coin that reacts with the dip and the result is not as good (including blow-ups) as it would have been doing the steps.

Even Care and I suspect Verdi-Care will remove many types of haze or contamination such as PVC. Many professionals swear by MS-70 as straight dip tends to turn the edges of exposed copper under the clad layer pink. My step #1 is MS-70 and very often that alone does the job.