SMS Cameo's and Dipping to remove haze...?

Ethan

I have been reading older post and this keeps popping up. I have acetone but would like to know what other things are meant to de-Haze a SMS cameo, or any coin for that matter without damage. I saw many post about it, one especially is Russ. Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?


Thanks.

bsshog40

Acetone will usually only cleans oils and such off metal. Depending on how old the haze is, some of it can be removed by dipping but most times still will not remove all of it.

Ethan

<< <i>Acetone will usually only cleans oils and such off metal. Depending on how old the haze is, some of it can be removed by dipping but most times still will not remove all of it. >>



Any ideas what dipping material folks are referring to? It was not acetone but some 'coin' cleaner. I think I remember MS70 or something like that. Also mentioned was a service (NCS) that restored coins or preserved them. I am really curious as I wonder if my half would be worth it..

keets

acetone will not remove haze and your inexperience suggests that any attempt by you has a 50/50 chance of ruining the coins. if you don't know what you're doing you should either let someone who knows, or, if you are insistent on doing it yourself, buy some cheap coins to experiment with till you know what you're doing.

bsshog40

The obverse looks cameo but not sure about ultra cameo. Would have to see the reverse. I would think it would only be worth it if the coin graded at least 66 or 67. MS70 and ez-zest are the 2 types of common dipping solutions. I don't recommend using those unless you have some experience with them. You can do more damage than good if you're not careful.

Ethan

Ok here are some that are in another post..

I have another 67 that I could afford to ruin, so I will try it. How long would you suggest I let it soak?

lkeigwin

You can soak in acetone as long as you like. I wouldn't expect it to do much.

eZest is the coin dip you probably want. It will remove toning too. It should be a quick dip...5 or 10 seconds. Dilute it 50%. Experiment with something inexpensive and unimportant.

Rinse well. Distilled water for the final rinse. Some people rinse in acetone. (Acetone won't harm it but may give it a dried out look as a result of removing oils and other organic substances.)

MS70 is not a dip. It's a detergent for coins meant to be applied on spots. It can be tricky. I don't recommend it for what you want.
Lance.

Ethan

<< <i>You can soak in acetone as long as you like. I wouldn't expect it to do much.

eZest is the coin dip you probably want. It will remove toning too. It should be a quick dip...5 or 10 seconds. Dilute it 50%. Experiment with something inexpensive and unimportant.

Rinse well. Distilled water for the final rinse. Some people rinse in acetone. (Acetone won't harm it but may give it a dried out look as a result of removing oils and other organic substances.)

MS70 is not a dip. It's a detergent for coins meant to be applied on spots. It can be tricky. I don't recommend it for what you want.
Lance. >>




Thank you guys, I will try the eZest as I already have some....I went and watched a video so it seems ok..

eZest Cleaning

keets

Text

good disclaimer.

Ethan

Yeah I watched it and he said never use on numismatics, I understand it. So I tried it on a less value Kennedy. One that I thought was mildly Cameo, with great mirrors but the frost was weaker than the one above. A great one to test if it can clean the haze and goop of a coin without damage. I did not have all the tools handy but I did have the cleaner and acetone. Here are the results..

********************* BEFORE ***********************












So as you can see, the haze is unattractive to the coin, could this be dipped and made to look better? Well here is a rookie's result. I am pleased that a simple dip can remove this stuff. Some things of note though, it will not remove milk spots. I also need to get some better tools for working this stuff but all in all I would say it was a success.




******************** AFTER **********************
























What are your thoughts?

Ethan

Some items from another forum that I frequent....I was asked how long I dipped them and was given a fair warning about damage etc...I was also told to skip the soapy water portion of the setup, just rinse and dip in acetone to get rid of the excess stuff and let air dry as the pat dry could cause a scratch which I think is a good idea....anyhow the journey continues.



Well the dip is a couple of dunks actually. Nothing over 10-15 seconds on that batch. Same as these next ones...

Thing is I am learning and the skip the soap portion seems very doable. I also can forget the pat dry as the acetone evaporates rather quickly. You will notice that on this next set, I was not so lucky. I got some finger prints on the 68 but I am not worried as these were just test coins. I am not confident enough to do this on a money coin...I just think it makes them look better.

As a side note, I had an old Liberty Mint Madonna and Child, the thing was nasty with tarnish and such. It was gold plated but I really could tell that well and I said what the heck since I had it all set up and I dunked her. Wow, is it nice now! A looker for sure but it is just junk silver but nice looking junk Silver.


Ok here we go.....first up 1965 with a little mirror. No way a cameo coin so I can not hurt it..







And after the dip....











Not bad at all, I think I need to be more patient on the rinse etc but not bad....Next up is a 66 SMS.
BEFORE....






And After.....Again not bad...










I see some black crap in the picture on the right side of the obverse. It is not there so must be the camera. I tried to match shots but I am still fighting my camera. Next up is a 68 CAM Proof...








And After......









Nothing real noticable and the scratches are still there but it was pretty clean to start with but with haze. That is gone. See the thumbprint? It was there at the start and it is still there. Maybe this one should be dipped a but longer to remove the thumbprint? I might try that the next time I get everything all set up.

Next up is a 69 CAM Proof...








And After.....









So no harm no foul here. The haze is gone and they look pretty darn good compared to my other ones without the haze. So far I am pleased with the results etc. I notice a 'stain' to the right of the obverse head. I did not notice it but it must be a lack of rinse in the acetone or water left over. I will skip the soapy water step the next time I do this..


Next up is a 70 CAM Proof..


Before .....








and After the dip...









So all in all I think this was a good exercise for me. I learned a little and will only get better as I gain knowledge in doing this.


One other side note. Months ago I had a Morgan dollar with acrylic coating on the top. I got it cheap thinking I could get that off. Well through this forum I tried the acetone and it worked. The Acrylic is gone but there was this noticeable stain on the obverse. Well since I had the dip set up I said what the heck and dipped her. I was very pleased with the results. The stain is not gone but the coin looks much better and has more natural tone to it. Most of the 'brown' from the acrylic is gone. I will post a picture later if someone wants me to. Here is the link to that thread..

1889s Morgan with Acrylic coating and its removal

coindudeonebay

You could also try MS70, that might work. It's silver so it won't turn it blue or purple!

After seeing your 67 in these shots I wouldn't expect it to go higher than a 65.

Ethan

65? Ok I can deal with that.......it is still the best one I own...I have 1966 slabbed MS66 that dont look this good but it doesnt matter as I like it!

MS70 is a detergent so that would not help me at this point.

Thanks for the feedback

Wabbit2313

Maybe you should add a few more pictures! I have no idea what is what after that barrage of images. I think you are trying a mind control trick or something!

I am always happy when someone who has no clue starts dipping coins. It usually makes mine go go up in value!!

Ethan

Fair enough, I put the pictures to give a good representation of the changes thereof. As for your coins going up in value I didn't think of it that way but it makes the rest of mine go up as well, cool.

keets

two points:

1. the pictures are sort of annoying, they certainly don't need to be that big to show us the results before/after. try sizing them at about 500x500.
2. if you are going to do home conservation you need to put more thought into it before just dipping in a haphazard way with a setup outlined by some putz on YouTube. just seeing his set-up and hearing the disclaimer was enough for me to know he doesn't really understand what he's doing --- hence --- since you are following his lead you don't know what you are doing.

the most important thing about dipping happens prior to the actual act of dipping. most members with knowledge at this site have learned what can be used effectively for certain surface conditions and what the expected outcome might be. your Morgan Dollar is an example of that since the "shadow" you describe should have been anticipated. it isn't a simple process of looking at coins and picking out ones with problems that you think you can "Fix" to win the jackpot. it is as much about knowing what coins to avoid and understanding what a coin will look like after certain chemicals are applied to its surface.

you can certainly approach this in a willy-nilly fashion and play around with some low value coins, but a more reasoned approach might be to slow down, read as many pertinent threads as time allows and trust those of us who are ahead of you on the curve.

Ethan

<< <i> 1. the pictures are sort of annoying, they certainly don't need to be that big to show us the results before/after. try sizing them at about 500x500. >>



Fair enough. When I tried posting with the USB Pics there was not enough detail, so I used my camera and lots of time to get one that could be seen and most importantly zoomed. Guess not.




<< <i> 2. if you are going to do home conservation you need to put more thought into it before just dipping in a haphazard way with a setup outlined by some putz on YouTube. just seeing his set-up and hearing the disclaimer was enough for me to know he doesn't really understand what he's doing --- >>



True but that was not the first I had read on it...I just did not jump into it.




<< <i> hence --- since you are following his lead you don't know what you are doing. >>

Agreed, that is why I read threads and asked questions and got to the point I was willing to give it a try with some cheap coins. That way I could learn, trial by error so to speak.



<< <i> the most important thing about dipping happens prior to the actual act of dipping. most members with knowledge at this site have learned what can be used effectively for certain surface conditions and what the expected outcome might be. your Morgan Dollar is an example of that since the "shadow" you describe should have been anticipated. >>


Ok, that two was a thread a long time ago asking how to get the acrylic off of the coin. Acetone worked fine but left a stain that was put there by the acrylic. The eZest got rid of that mostly. Now I have a nice coin that looks good. Again not a jackpot as I do not sell anything.




<< <i>it isn't a simple process of looking at coins and picking out ones with problems that you think you can "Fix" to win the jackpot. it is as much about knowing what coins to avoid and understanding what a coin will look like after certain chemicals are applied to its surface. >>



And that is why a read the threads....I can see why details were not listed in most of those threads as it could damage the coin. So I thought I would give it a shot and post the results in detail for others that might consider it.




<< <i>you can certainly approach this in a willy-nilly fashion and play around with some low value coins, but a more reasoned approach might be to slow down, read as many pertinent threads as time allows and trust those of us who are ahead of you on the curve. >>



That is what I thought I was doing, I read the threads decided that MS70 was not what I needed, plus a few more and then decided the eZest was worth a shot. I did not rush into this and if I would have known it would have caused such a stir, I most likely would not have done it..but it is done.

My results I am very pleased with and I accomplished what I set out to do. Am I ready to use it on a $50 coin, no not yet. However I would have no problem doing this to a less valuable one to clean it up. Remember I am not scrubbing it just getting 'goop' off of it.



Thank you for your replies...