Need help with PVC damage

Blade

A coin collector's nightmare...

I'm visiting my Dad and we took some time to look through his collection, that has been stashed away for many years. Back in the 1980's he bought a number of nice coins and left them in soft flips. Since he hasn't kept up with the hobby, he did not risk of keeping these in the flips long term.

Most of the silver coins have a green tinge around the rims, especially near the top of the flips. There are about 30 half cents and large cents, some with the green tinge and others with some small bright green spots. It's killing me to look at a nice VF 1798 large cent with PVC.

I've seen threads before about cleaning up PVC. What does everyone recommend? What works best? Should we try it ourselves? Save the best coins for NCS? After the green is gone, is there any lasting damage?

Any help would be appreciated.

Barry

It's probably too late, as damage is already done, but soak the coins in 100% puyre Acetone. Don't use nail polish remover.

Merc

You just need acetone. It will remove the PVC. The silver should come out OK. The copper may be pitted by the PVC. Don't bother with NCS. They use acetone too. You can do the job yourself.

Blade

OK, great advice. Where do I get 100% acetone?

Blade

Thanks all. I did a search on PVC and found a really helpful thread so at this point I'm set. Hopefully we'll have some success.

Tonekiller

acetone at Home Depot or Lowes. Do it outside with plenty of air.

TBT