Proper acetone procedure

NO NO NO!

Denatonium is "Bitrex", a bitter-tasting chemical to deter kids from swallowing the stuff. Fragrance could be anything. It might not matter to your coins -- but it's likely to spot them at least, and quite possibly discolor them.

Return it if you can.

 

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That's an excellent question. Most of the things that provide an air-tight seal will be attacked or softened by acetone. I'd propose putting it in a glass bowl with a plate over it; not completely airtight, but perhaps good enough for overnight. Aluminum foil might do for a cover, too.

 

What are the prime reasons to bathe a coin?

I might try this on some pocket change so I can add a new procedure to my arsenal.

 

Very good point. Myself I went old school, and used a canning jar with one of those old glass lids but no rubber seal. It was tight enough to slow down the evaporation considerably. Even then I store the jar outside so any fumes could escape out there.

Anytime you are working with petroleum based chemicals, use glass. Since plastics are also petroleum based, you never know what interaction there could be.

Chris

 

Bowl maybe........ drinking glass no....never....absolutely never do it.

If you never put a chemical in a drinking glass then you will never have the disasterous accident of someone drinking the chemical from the glass.

Never put Acetone in a drinking glass to soak a coin.
Never put Acetone in a drinking glass to soak a coin.
Never put Acetone in a drinking glass to soak a coin.
Never put Acetone in a drinking glass to soak a coin.
Never put Acetone in a drinking glass to soak a coin.

P.S. Pets drink from bowls so just be careful.

 

I do take care to only use pure acetone from tightly sealed metal or amber glass containers with a non reactive seal and would never use nail polish remover. That said, finger nail polish only contains Denatonium in low parts per million, far too little to leave noticeable spots with the larger component of acetone. I would be more worried about the perfume carrier which is usually not as well known or identified. Denatonium is added to most solvents and denatured alcohols to prevent consumption due to bitterness. Most commercial acetone has it added, even though it is not indicated on the container. It is also in canned air dusters to prevent "sniffing", and I would worry more about canned air than with acetone. Just for your information.

Jim

 

Is there an acetone of choice for the removing PVC? I just experimented for the first time on a few coins I have with PVC residue. I purchased Klean Strip brand acetone at my local Ace Hardware. It removed the PVC just fine using the 3 step method mentioned earlier. My subject coins were two Shield nickels, they look great but there is some very minor light brown staining from the PVC? A Liberty Seated half dime, also looks great and did not effect the toning, no problems. 1804 half cent, PVC seems to be removed, lots of green in the acetone, all 3 baths/rinses, coin was very dark before, now has a sort of whitish haze to it, disappointing result. I almost wonder if the half cent had been oiled in an earlier life?

 

If you are saying that all 3 rinses were green at the end, then that is the cause of the white haze. if the last bath of acetone has green, you need to go last +1 until the very last one is clear. A small amount of dissolved material in acetone ( last bath ) will evaporate on the coin and be seen as a white/light area as it is very thin, especially around letters, enclosed spaces. I usually discard the first containers after a few coins or when it starts getting discolored, otherwise you carry material to the further rinses. I always hold a coin vertical and pour a rinse of acetone over it and allow to evaporate, so any tiny amount of junk will be rinsed off the coin. Start that coin over and see if the white disappears.

Jim

 

I purchased the quart size container for $7 about 2 months ago and was surprised at how quickly I used it. When I bought it, I thought it would last me a life time.

 

You are a saint I say it jokingly, but your effort is truely appreciated.

 

Jim, I will work on the half cent some more. It is my test piece as I have some other old copper with PVC that I want to clean up.
Thanks!

 

Please follow up on the half cent when you can. The problem you describe sounds exactly like the "whitish haze" that Doug warns about when treating copper with acetone. It will be interesting to see whether it goes away with further (and cleaner) rinses.

I wish I still had contacts at the materials-science lab. I'd love to subject a hazed coin to some serious analytic tools.

 

grandpa if you want o get rid of a century worth of fingerprints use biox. it works .... sometimes

 

I don't clean coins. I believe it devalues them . Under what circumstances does it not matter? Are you saying it is OK to clean a BU toned coin?

 

rinse with water or not? and why? thats the question we would like you to answer.

 

most cins have been cleaned at some point of time ngc/pcgs certify c;eaned coins. conservation is cleaning and there is a difference between cleaned and harshly cleaned. conservation is necessary at time otherwise the coin could be lost. original surfaces are always more valuable just my one cent

 

good. remember if you ever get a change of heart let me know i have thousands invested based on our mutually agreed principles. now if they were to change then

 

I went to the cvs pharmacy and order 100% pure acetone. It cost $9 for 4oz bottle. So needless to say i overpaid to make certain i had pure acetone. I haven't used it yet because i was also wondered what to use to bath them in. Was looking for some sort of small glass container. Also wondering how to get the coins in and out of the dip. Do i use fingers w/gloves or some sort of tongs? Every step seems to add to the perils of cleaning. Wouldn't the gloves or tongs also add contaminents?
The pharmacist told me that had worked somewhere where they used vats of acetone to clean ink and contaminants off of metal. He said to wear eye protection and not to breathe it or splash it on the skin.
Many of my nice collectable coins are in PVC flips as purchased in the 70's and 80's. I still can't decide whether to dip them or not. I don't want to worsen a situation. I may. Just transfer them to PVC free flips.

Lack