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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;beef1020, post: 1247842, member: 24544&quot;]There is a generally accepted way to conserve coins by people who collect early American copper.&nbsp; There are numerous places it&#039;s published in the EAC literature, and Bob Grellman&#039;s book has instructions as well.&nbsp; The problem people have is we don&#039;t know what the TPG will accept or not, so there is not an accepted method.</p><p><br /></p><p>For me, I do not care in the least what a TPG says about a coins grade or condition as I think they are unreliable.&nbsp; What I do know, from first hand experience, is using xylol to clean off grime and dirt from early copper does not have any impact on the surface integrity of the coin.&nbsp; I have coins in my collection which were treated this way 30+ years ago and show no adverse effects from it.&nbsp; I also know that leaving the dirt/grime on the coins will cause them to slowly deteriorate.&nbsp; So my choice is use xylol to remove harmful substances from the surface of a coin while not reacting with the original surface/patina, or I can leave them alone and in 30+ years they will corrode.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>I would advise you to get some xylol and take an old dirty wheat penny or indian head and experiment with it yourself.&nbsp; I am certain if you do this you can convince yourself that it is effective at removing dirt/grime without affecting the actual surface of the coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>Last thing I will say, you can go on ebay and see countless examples of early large cents from the 1800s that are bright red and shiny from harsh cleaning.&nbsp; When people say you should not clean a coin this is what I think.&nbsp; Be very weary of changing the surface condition of a coin, as in don&#039;t take a dull penny and try to shine it up.&nbsp; People use to do this to coins all the time, they &#039;cleaned&#039; them up.&nbsp; This is a far cry from gentle removing built up dirt/dust/grime while leaving the original patina in tact.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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