@John Burgess no insult intended, sorry if that impression was given. I have had confrontations with other people on CT about tap water vs distilled or deionized water. A quick search shows "distilled" water to have 0.5 ppm (parts per million) or 0.0005% dissolved solids whereas ordinary tap water can go up to 0.05%. That's why I have usually recommended soaking coins (if that's what you want to do) with tap water, adding a distilled water rinse if you want and then blotting dry rather than waiting for evaporation. Many bottled waters start off with distilled water and add back some "electrolytes" (salts - dissolved solids) but that is not regulated at all. All I disagreed with was "it was my saying it worked on organic solids.....". No, it won't, any more than water, distilled or tap, will rinse oil off your hands. Now if there is some organic gunk with some inorganic stuff underneath, the water MIGHT float the gunk off.
Wow, lot to take in. Thought I was gonna have to get the water hose out to quell the crowd lol. Thank you for all the input!! looks like the majority is 1. don't send it in and 2. don't clean it. thank you everyone you really are the pros.
It was chem quality and lasted longer before evaporating away, of course I had key to storage. The #1 chemist ( Now deceased ) was an ex-underwater demolition specialist in the Navy and had a "Pop Bottle" he would fill with hydrogen from electrolysis and pass over a flame which of course "fired it off" with a bang heard through the buikding. The students thought it was hilarious, but today it would never be allowed. He had a T-shirt that said "Chemists are Crazy", and he also taught swimming and was the best in the college. I do miss him often. Jim