Water, Acetone and eZest On A Proof Coin

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by Kentucky, Mar 6, 2021.

  1. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    I trust your word (usually :)) but I just don't currently have any coins that fit the requirements or any MS70
     
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    ...continuing to beat on a dead horse, I gave the coin a brief soak in a sodium hydroxide solution and it came up really weird...it showed marks where none were visible before:
    thumbnail_IMG_1621.jpg thumbnail_IMG_1620.jpg
    This prompted me to give it a final one-second eZest dip...

    thumbnail_IMG_1628.jpg thumbnail_IMG_1627.jpg
    I'm finished playing with this one...one quick question for @GDJMSP , would this now be considered a cleaned coin?
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2021
  4. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    Well, even if all ya do is rinse a coin in water, that coin has been cleaned. It hasn't been harshly/improperly cleaned, but it most definitely has been cleaned.

    But I suspect that what you're really asking is - has the coin been harshly/improperly cleaned ? Is it not ? Well, you tell me.

    This is what you also said -

    What you did was use lye on the coin - not exactly something I'd ever recommend. Which is kinda sorta what I was hinting at with my previous comment of "If ya wish." And given your following comments, I figured I'd let you find out for yourself. And now ya have.

    And yeah, I admit it, I'm still talking between the lines. But I'll end that now. Ya see, I suspect it was the lye, sodium hydroxide, that created those marks "where none were visible before".

    Thus my answer would be - yes, the coin has been harshly/improperly cleaned.
     
    Kentucky likes this.
  5. atcarroll

    atcarroll Well-Known Member

    Since nobody knows what has been done to a coin, we have to go on what we can see. Judging solely by your photos, this does not appear to me to be a cleaned coin. Maybe my opinion would change if i had the coin in hand, maybe not. From the photos i can't see evidence of cleaning.
     
    Kentucky likes this.
  6. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    MS70 is potassium hydroxide in some organic solvents, I don't have any potassium hydroxide around right now, that's why I used the sodium hydroxide. I don't think the lye "created" the marks so much as it just made them visible. And yes, I was asking about "harshly/improperly" cleaned. Is there any visible evidence you could point to that the coin was improperly cleaned? Just asking, I pretty much got it as bullion.
     
  7. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    It's possible, but given that the coin is a commem, I think it unlikely because commems, from that era at least, typically don't get marked up - and then tone. Typically the toning on modern commems, like what the coin had in your "bought" pics, occurs pretty quickly and the majority of the time while the coins are still in original packaging. And in original packaging the coins usually don't get marked up.

    Ya see, when marks are hidden under toning those marks had to occur before the toning, otherwise the toning couldn't cover them up to begin with. When marks occur after toning they are pretty much always visible and often even highlighted because the marks break through the toning showing the lighter color underneath. And that's not what we see in your "bought" pics - or what you reported seeing in hand.

    I didn't base my comment on what I see in the pics, looking at your pics I'm not sure what you're even calling marks. I based my comment on what you said seeing as how you have the coin in hand - that marks became visible where none were previously visible - and knowing what I just said in the paragraphs above.
     
    Kentucky likes this.
  8. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    OK, what I was thinking was that the "stuff" that showed up to the right of the Constitution was some kind of schmutz like grease. Lye will change any kind of grease into a soap which can be more easily removed. Regardless, it started out as a proof coin that had no reflectivity and very dull fields and ended up as looking moderately clean. All without any rubbing or scrubbing.
     
  9. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    Here's the thing. Over the years, and when I say years I'm talking about centuries, just about everything anyone can even imagine has been used in an effort to clean coins. And even after all that time, you can still count on 1 hand the number of methods that are safe and effective.
     
    Kentucky likes this.
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page