Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;wlwhittier, post: 1676950, member: 18320&quot;]Many of the coins I come across are so filthy as to leave soil on&nbsp; fingers, as well as paper surfaces used to back up photos.&nbsp; What solvent&nbsp; properties distilled water may possess are patently insufficient to do&nbsp; any really effective removal of such crud.</p><p><br /></p><p>Denatured Alcohol,&nbsp; lacquer thinner, acetone, naphtha, mineral spirits, methyl ethyl&nbsp; ketone...the list goes on and on of available and effective solvents for&nbsp; short-term soaking of moderately soiled coins...particularly those with&nbsp; low value but high eye-appeal.</p><p><br /></p><p>Simple Green is gonna be my next&nbsp; adventure with one of the worst cases: a Lincoln wheatie otherwise&nbsp; unworthy of a second glance except for the gunk on one side.&nbsp; I also have a&nbsp; couple older British pennies that were sloppily glued into an album at one time, and&nbsp; still bear the remnants of that adhesive caked on the reverse...great&nbsp; experimental material which, even if completely destroyed in the process (not&nbsp; likely) would be a zero loss.</p><p><br /></p><p>The whole subject...the TABOO&nbsp; against cleaning coins, the infinite care one must exercise using the&nbsp; mildest of solvents, the opprobrium attached to the admission of having&nbsp; cleansed a coin: IMO is outrageously overblown and elitist.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am&nbsp; not talking here AT ALL of high value coins...toners, the ancients,&nbsp; etc...<b>nor</b> about any attempt to <b>&#039;improve appearance in order to deceive&#039;</b>,&nbsp; <b>nor</b> about scrubbing with abrasive bristles or powders, using aggressive metal&nbsp; cleansers or high or low Ph fluids.</p><p><br /></p><p>Just as you wash any item to&nbsp; remove soil-of-use, I strongly believe many coins shown on these forums&nbsp; would be enhanced by <i>gentle</i>, thoughtful cleaning...just as my penny with the yellow lacquer will be.&nbsp; I&#039;ll add to that post upon completion of my labors.</p><p><br /></p><p>I look forward to hearing from all who have an opinion about this subject.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in