Dirt and grime on a coin.
Coin_nut1977
Posts: 1,517 ✭✭✭✭✭
Is it ok to soak coins in water and diluted soap? I have many coins that could really use a bath. Not necessarily cleaning them. Lots of dirt and grime on many coins I have. Thanks in advance.
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Sure. Please, be careful. We are only caretakers today of these little circular disks for tomorrow's coin collectors.
Personally, I would leave them as is.
A lot of collectors feel this way but these same collectors would refuse to buy these same dirty filth encrusted coins.
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I'm not one for washing coins.
Show some of the one's you think are 'dirty' here on the forum...We can then better advise you. Most of the time, the answer would be no. However, sometimes, mud, crud, glue and other detritus gets on coins and should be removed. Cheers, RickO
In all my years, I've never once cleaned a coin with soap and water. Then again, I don't look around with a metal detector. That would change the equation.
What about acetone? and then a distilled water rinse? IIRC people seem to think that is MA
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You can do an acetone bath. It is very safe, but be careful of accidents (dropping, scratching, etc).
Get 100% pure acetone from the hardware store. Read the label carefully. Also, buy gloves that are acetone resistant since you do not want glove material dissolving in acetone and then the residue getting on your coins. Use gloved hands in handling coins at all times.
Have 3-4 clean plastic vessels (that are acetone resistant) and fill them up with acetone. Soak gold, silver, Cu-Ni coins in there for several minutes, longer is fine too. Move the coins from the first bath to the second to the third and then a final rinse of distilled water or acetone to wash off anything loose. Rinsing with acetone is easy in that it dries within a few seconds and is ready to be put in a flip or coin capsule.
You can use glass containers since they are acetone resistant, but do you really want to put a coin on a hard surface? When you place a coin in a glass vessel filled with acetone, you have to put the coin inside it. It will be at the bottom touching the glass surface. Perhaps you can put pieces of acetone resistant plastic to "soften" the resting place of the coin.
The acetone baths are not miracle cleaners, but they get off fingerprint residues (if fairly new) and other impurities which can affect the coin long term. It is a conservation procedure. If after an acetone bath you are not satisfied with the results, at least you know the coin will not get worse and you can leave it as is. Doing something more will likely put it at further risk. Some debris really do have to be removed from a coin and the acetone bath does take care of that.
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If this comment isn't missing a note about when you're working with acetone, I disagree. You get a better grip without gloves, so just learn to hold coins by the edge. Wear gloves if you need to do something like push a coin into an album hole and can't touch only the edge.
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