Will acetone remove this tape?
MorganMan94
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I bought these yesterday at my local dealer from his cull box. The 21 Morgan appears to be AU and the 1896 would be a nice problem free example.. only problem is the tape on both of them. Would acetone remove it? Any other way to remove it?
Thanks for your help all.
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Yes.
--Severian the Lame
I concur with Weiss.
I would try goo gone first, soak very well in goo gone, then use acetone to finish with.
Goo gone is orange oil extract. I have not seen any acetic reaction in silver that I have tested. I would try acetone first. It is the safest and best. Let us know. Peace Roy
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Most likely but you might have to soak it for a while. It looks like old 'bull dog ' tape residue from the 1950's which is very thick. I recently had a similar situation with large cents that were taped into an album. I tried different solvents in a sequential order with poor results. Ultimately what worked the best for me was to boil the coin for a few minutes which softened the glue considerably. I followed this with an acetone bath for a few hours and the glue came right off. Boiling the large cent had no ill effect on the copper at all but I can't vouch for a silver coin but I suspect it'll be fine.
Joe
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Probably going to be a long and difficult job.
It was discussed recently with a lot of input, here is the link.
Best of luck to you
"Need Advice on Removing Tape Residue from Large Cents"
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/1001352/need-advice-on-removing-tape-residue-from-large-cents
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@jafo50 said: "I recently had a similar situation with large cents that were taped into an album. I tried different solvents in a sequential order with poor results. Ultimately what worked the best for me was to boil the coin for a few minutes which softened the glue considerably. I followed this with an acetone bath for a few hours and the glue came right off."
What a novel idea. Thanks for sharing your expertise with all of us!
It's already common knowledge from previous posts.
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I find acetone is sufficient in most cases with tape residue or adhesives. I say most cases, because there could be special circumstances - one can never hope to know all possible situations with type of adhesive, environment and age related composition changes. The boiling suggestion is good, since that may re-hydrate the residue for better results with the acetone. Cheers, RickO
Be careful to not allow the coins to touch bottom of steel pan if you boil it. Coin can be put inside clean glass dish under boiling water in deep pan.
Don't let the coins touch anything hard! Best to suspend them as you would for a SG test. For circulated coins, I use a deep wooden spoon so both sides get the liquid and only the coin's edge touches.
I have no idea how to get that off without ruining the look of the coin. You may end up with a rather large streak of no color when you get done working on it. The good thing is that you bought them as culls. The worst thing that can happen to the coins is that they remains culls. Good luck!
xylene won't affect the coins and it might remove the residue.
I agree with using xylene. It's more effective a solvent, but be aware that it's also more volatile. Use in a well ventilated space so as to not be overcome by fumes.
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How long do you want to wait?
I have a suggestion that should help all of us.
Put one in a covered dish of acetone and the other in a covered dish of xylene. Let us know what happens and how long it took. Some tapes (scotch tape) are easily removed with either. Others are not. After a very long acetone soak with no satisfactory results, I tried xylene. Again, nothing. I got really tired of soaking a coin with tape residue as folks want fast service. Mineral spirits and turpentine produced the same results - nothing.
It all depends on the original tape and how long it has been on the coin.
A member above posted that the color of the metal protected by the tape may be a different color when the tape comes off. Anyway, you cannot hurt those coins.
Xylene is a very harmful chemical. Wear the correct gloves and a respirator. I used it as a solvent for chlorinated rubber based pool paint. Peace Roy
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The boiling water approach just might work. You never know what type of adhesive has been used, but it's always best to try the solvents that you know won't hurt the coin before trying anything else.
The main problem is that not every tape residue will ever be the same as the next.
On those, I would try Naval Jelly. The coins really have lost any numismatic collectibility.
Yes! I wouldn’t mess around with any potentially harmful chemical no matter what it is worth.
Naval Jelly = phosphoric acid. Probably won't affect an adhesive resin.
Xylene - not as bad as all that, if you respect that you don't want to ingest, breathe or absorb it and use reasonable ventilation.
I don't look at the "collectability" of something that needs to be fixed. Heck, a Brillo pad would probably work without affecting their silver value a great deal. Anyway, thanks for your suggestion; however, I think the OP wants to remove the tape and not put an ACID on their surface that may change their color.
I understand, but that tape looks like it has been on there a long time, so there is already a color difference that will be "revealed" when the package is opened.
I searched how to remove scotch tape from coins and found several helpful but older ideas. I have a sharp 1877 S Half Dollar that has already been abrasively cleaned but there remains a good amount of since-turned green scotch tape I believe). Are Acetone or GooGone still viable options as I don't want to cause further damage to the toning or the coin itself. Many thanks.
Piano1
Yes, acetone won't hurt the coin.
And if you are lucky, it will remove the tape residue.
Put the acetone in a sealed jar like an old jelly or jam jar, to make sure it does not evaporate.
I'm not sure I would touch it. If the acetone removes the tape residue (if it is tape residue), it could leave behind a shadow that's been baked into the surface of the coin. Then you're screwed!
Not googone (whatever that is).
I've used goo gone on silver without incident.
Did you use it in place of acetone?
No. In addition. It seems to dissolve some gunk (goo?) that acetone doesn't. It's actually quicker with some types of tape than acetone, in my experience.
Thanks! 👍🏻
I'd try the acetone first to see how far you get with it. Let it soak for a while to loosen the bond. It is non-injurious to the coin
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
Nasty looking tape lol
This is what I would do. Soaking in acetone won't damage the coin. My preference is to start with the least aggressive approach and if that works, no further action is needed.
My success with acetone is horrible. It might remove most of the tape residue but I’ve tried, and the scratches and dings just won’t come off
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I had a similar situation
I soaked it overnight in olive oil, then a couple acetone dips, worked great
Noting that this is a necro-thread.
"Goo Gone" is essentially a mixture of kerosene - a non-polar solvent not entirely unlike the main constituents of jet fuel or gasoline - plus some limonene, which has both goo-removal properties and it smells nice, which helps mask the "chemical smell" of the kerosene.
Goo Gone and Acetone will remove different sorts of goo; if one doesn't work, the other probably will. It's been my experience that goo-that-comes-off-in-acetone is more common than goo-that-doesn't, but it will depend on what the original glue/tape/paint was made from - which in turn will vary depending on geographic location and how long ago the original substance was made.
Goo Gone also contains small amounts of citrus oil and other "fragrance" chemicals, which will probably stick to a coin cleaned with it and may affect toning long-term. I would recommend using acetone to remove the fragrances once the Goo Gone treatment is complete.
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Great informative post. I have some goo-gone but never used on silver coins. What is the general practice, soaking the coin in a glass jar for some period of time then rinse with acetone or distilled water. I tried to get this gunk off my 96-S but acetone did nothing, even after a week. I do not want to effect the color of the coin and wonder if goo-gone will get rid of the gunk primarily in the date and motto, but leave the dark patina alone.
The white stuff in the date looks like it may be baking soda. In the old days, collectors would sometimes clean their coins by making a paste of baking soda with a little water and then rub this paste on the coin's surface with their thumb in a circular motion to clean and brighten their coins. Needless to say, this will ruin your coin and shouldn't be done. If the coin wasn't thoroughly rinsed in hot water, traces of baking soda would remain in some of the recessed areas. See if you can carefully dig that white stuff out of the date area with a sharp toothpick.
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Thanks, not sure if baking soda, wouldn't it dissolve in the acetone. Also even in sunlight and 10X loupe, no visible hairlines which I can see and coin is not bright. Not sure what it is. Maybe I'll try the goo-gone and I think someone mentioned mineral oil. Not sure of using xylene just yet.