Acetone baths

seateddime

How long is too long to bath silver in acetone?

For PVC?

For haze or spots?

XpipedreamR

Once all the acetone has evaporated, you'll know you've gone too long

1921obsession

Drop the coin into acetone, and sit an empty plastic milk jug next to it. When the milk jug has decomposed completely into constituent elements, you'll know it's time to pull the coin out.

mozeppa

ya'll just coulda said "when hell freezes over...thats too long."


but NOOOOOO!

Rampage

I do not know if acetone really hurts a coin if it has set in it for too long. I (in error) left a Peace dollar in a dish with acetone for two weeks. Of course, when I looked at the dish again, the acetone had already evaporated. But, the coin was okay. And, the stuff I was trying to remove was gone, too.

Sunnywood

The acetone will do no harm ... but, if you do leave it so long that it evaporates, then some of the contaminants that were successfully removed by the acetone (i.e. dissolved into the acetone) may possibly redeposit back on the coin (and all the other surfaces present). This will happen if the dissolved contaminants are not volatile, i.e. if they do not evaporate with the acetone.

So, no harm in leaving the coin in acetone, but I advise removing the coin before the acetone has evaporated !! A distilled water rinse, followed by a dip in clean isopropyl alcohol (which is then allowed to evaporate) will result in the cleanest & driest surfaces.

P.S. I don't know all this from playing with coins, I know it from the manufacturing business I used to own We did a lot of work with metals, and had a lab, etc.

Best,
Sunnywood

DorkGirl

Sunnywood, it has been my experience that the alcohol will remove toning. If you want to keep the toning on your coin, stay away from alcohol.

TonedCoinTrader

I once had a lincoln cent 1970 D I believe, with a Beautiful Neon Magenta and Green crescent on the obverse.

It had a spot on the reverse I needed to remove.

So, I put in a plastic bottle with acetone closed the lid left it over night and all the Neon Green toning was GONE!

Also the coin kinda turned a little pink.

So be carefull with MS toned copper.

Scott




edited for spelling

ldhair

Acetone in a plastic bottle?

yellowjacket

Sounds like a bad idea.

Sunnywood

Neither alcohol nor acetone will remove legitimate toning. Scott, the neon green crescent was possibly the result of deliberate or accidental reaction with PVC and/or acids. PVC can be neon green, and it is soluble in acetone.

Best,
Sunnywood