High-grade acetone

littlebear · December 7, 2009 5:17AM

I know there have been numerous topics on the use of acetone, and I have read many of them. What I need to know, however, is if there are different levels of grade/purity, and where to get the type most suitable for numismatic use. Your help is appreciated. Thanks!

Larry L.

coinkid855 · December 7, 2009 5:19AM

I only use MS69+ PCGS graded acetone.

-Paul

P.S. 100% pure acetone is fine. Look for it at a hardware store.

rld14 · December 7, 2009 5:22AM

Home Depot... Lowe's... etc...

$4-5 for a big can of it. Any regular Acetone works great.

bushmaster8 · December 7, 2009 5:44AM

The really good stuff is called "HPLC grade" or sometimes labeled as "suitable for pesticide residue analysis" and is available at chemical supply houses, or lab-supply companys like Fisher Scientific. Be forewarned tho, acetone of such high purity is very pricey.

Many folks use commercial-industrial grade "hardware store" stuff. That is ok if you take steps to nuetralize the acid residues found in the cheap stuff. This can be done by using a weak solution of baking soda/distilled water, or by serial dilution, ie. three consecutive, separate distilled water rinses. Don't use the baking soda stored in your fridge.... use fresh soda.

Unless you are doing very expensive delicate high grade proofs, it's probably not worth it to seek out the HPLC grade stuff.

littlebear · December 7, 2009 6:07AM

Thank you for the information!

Larry L.

TomB · December 7, 2009 6:43AM

I wouldn't buy HPLC grade acetone and would not rinse the coins with baking soda. You should be fine with multiple rinses in clean acetone and/or distilled water.

Musky1011 · December 7, 2009 6:52AM

Acetone and vicodin works great

Thnx

PrivateCoinCollector · December 7, 2009 6:56AM

There are different grades of Acetone. The stuff at Home Depot or other hardware stores is not what is known as "Technical Grade" Do a search on Google for "Technical Grade Acetone" and you will find the real stuff.