100% Acetone on Steel Pennies?

I've see people on here say to use it on really dirty coins that hide the features. However, does the 100% acetone devalue steel pennies or is it safe to use on those? I have some that I'm not sure if it is just gunk or corrosion (I have plenty that are definitely corroded as well).

Thanks!

 

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An acetone bath won't harm the coins as long as you don't rub the coins.

 

X2

 

Be sure to rinse well when done.

 

Rinse well with what? Distilled water? Also how long do you leave them in for?

 

I guess I could also post pictures of the ones I wasn't sure about. Would it do any of these any good or is this just all corrosion?

 

Here are a couple more:

 

I'd say "with clean acetone". I'd keep even distilled water away from steel cents that have already started to rust. But, to be honest, I know very little about conserving steel cents.

 

Soak in acetone, then rinse in warm running tap water. Dry throughly before putting in holders. If they all show fingerprints don’t think you can remove them. Those prints are there to stay.

 

I really, really wouldn't do a TAP-water rinse on steel cents, especially not if your water's treated with chlorine. Ordinarily a distilled-water rinse is fine, but with steel cents (especially with worn-off zinc), you want to keep them as dry as possible. A dip in clean acetone after the soak will dilute any remaining contaminants, then let it evaporate off and you'll be left with a clean and very dry coin.

@Collecting Nut, I'll yield to you on this if you've done it successfully with a lot of worn steel cents, but all my chemistry intuition is telling me that a water rinse is not the way to go in this specific case...

 

The key is drying the coins.

 

The acetone won't hurt, but it will completely remove any oils that may be present. this could lead to more rust.

 

Actually, acetone is a drying agent. It's often used in labs for quickly drying glassware and ceramics. It's miscible in all proportions with water and evaporates quickly. Caution! The vapor is highly flammable.

If you think there is any water-soluble or water-dispersible substances on the coin, rinse with warm distilled water. Then rinse with or dip in acetone. Use reagent grade acetone; you can get it online. Then place the coin on a clean polyethylene sandwich or 1-gal bag. The acetone will dry on the up side in a minute or two; then turn it over for the opposite side to dry. One advantage of using acetone for drying is that it will quickly remove water from even the tiniest crevices and pores ... important for water-reactive metals like iron.

Cal

 

Use it to remove your nail polish, I heard it's good for that. But seriously, it's not going to improve these coins any.

 

100% acetone, evaporates 100%, entirely. As said above, add water and you really mess things up. The idea that acetone alters copper coloration is a bunch of BS !!
One college experiment showed it did , but with the environment close to Venus rather Earth.They were funded by a competitor for acetone in cleaning copper . Each and ever one of us produce acetone as a byproduct of metabolic reactions with diet, especially body fat. Since it evaporates 100%, do not have flames or sparks in an enclosed area with acetone vapors, Jim

 

Wheelz,
Since all you show are 1943 cents, which were made as steel with a zinc outer plating. And since there was no copper 1943 cents, except for 40 which "showed up in the mint later" and are beyond rare.......Companies started copper plating them and people started selling them as real. The plating wa very thin and started flaking off the cent. Likely yours are similar.

1960 coin magazine clipping.


Jim

 

Or just don't use the water. Alternatively follow the water with a quick acetone rinse to dry them. That's what we always did in the lab after washing glassware, give it a quick acetone rinse.

 

I just flashed on you with nail-polished hooves...

 

None of mine resemble copper so I'm not sure why you think these are like that...

 

We animal coin-collectors don't get no respect. Where's that acetone!