What is the longest soak you've ever given a coin in acetone?

Snoodle · April 29, 2005 5:07AM

I'm going on 4 days now. I change out the acetone with fresh stuff every night and check the progress. The PVC spots are getting smaller and thinner, but the going is slow. I'm beggining to think this could take a while!

Thanks!

cdan12 · April 29, 2005 5:34AM

2 weeks for a franklin half,pvc never did come off.

nepbrs44 · April 29, 2005 5:35AM

Is it silver? Copper? Or God forbid Gold?

Chances are if silver (a guess) you can forget about any luster that may have still been there cause it's now long gone.

Good Luck!

tjkillian · April 29, 2005 5:46AM

<< <i>Is it silver? Copper? Or God forbid Gold? Chances are if silver (a guess) you can forget about any luster that may have still been there cause it's now long gone. Good Luck! >>

Why would it effect the luster? Does it make a difference as to what metal is soaking in the acetone? I was under the impression that acetone only went after organic materials, such as PVC.

Tom

nepbrs44 · April 29, 2005 6:20AM

<< <i>

<< <i>Is it silver? Copper? Or God forbid Gold? Chances are if silver (a guess) you can forget about any luster that may have still been there cause it's now long gone. Good Luck! >>

Why would it effect the luster? Does it make a difference as to what metal is soaking in the acetone? I was under the impression that acetone only went after organic materials, such as PVC.

Tom >>

It will affect it. I have sent in coins to be graded after too long in the acetone and I quote ( Kept out of higher grade due to impaired luster.)

You must be very careful to make sure it is pure 100% acetone to cut down on it returned bodybaged or lower graded. But I believe the long lenght of time caused this. I have had it happen with 2 merc dimes.

Just a FYI

Snoodle · April 29, 2005 6:48AM

With regards to the Luster and acetone thing.......

The Acetone should not "react" with the silver.

The Acetone is a strong organic solvent, and the PVC will dissolve into the the acetone.

Here is the catch, once the PVC is "in solution" it is free to fill every nook and cranny of your coin.

If you are not careful about how you go about doing this, the acetone can spread the PVC residue over the entire surface of the coin.

Your coin still has "luster", but you can't see it underneath the fresh film of PVC.

What you want to do is remove your coin from the acetone soak and move it to an acetone rinse.

Repeat the sequence a couple times and the amount of PVC in your rinse becomes less and less.

I finish with a rinse of alcohol.

So far the Luster is just as fine as I started with.

K6AZ · April 29, 2005 6:55AM

It's been my experience that if the spots aren't completely gone in 24 hours of soaking, they've progressed to the point of eating into the surface causing irreparable damage. At this point I would pull the coin out of the acetone and dip it, where you'll probably find the pits caused by the PVC.

Snoodle · April 29, 2005 7:05AM

Can someone explain the difference between active PVC damage and PVC damage that is no longer active? Does it look different?

K6AZ,
No doubt there is damage to the surface of the coin. The fact that PVC is present implies that silver has been consumed from the surface of the coin. I happen to be really fond of this particular coin, and I would like to stop the damage and remove the gunk.

Its a commemorative Grant (no star) half dollar. There must have been a bubble or blister in the planchet when the coin was struck. A portion of Grant's collar is delaminated. The exposed metal must have been more reactive than the other surfaces, as this is where a majority of the PVC damage has occured. The coin is pretty cool, aside from the PVC.

K6AZ · April 29, 2005 7:18AM

Snoodle, at the stage your coin is at, to stop the PVC damage you are going to have to dip it in a thiroeau based dip, such as e*z*est. This will be the only way to completely remove the active PVC. Be ready for what you find after the PVC is removed. Here is a Washington quarter that was in a similar stage, and after the PVC was completely removed:

carl · April 29, 2005 9:27AM

I've been experimenting with stuff like that for years just for the fun of it. I've recently had 4 Lincolns in acetone for a few days now. there was no PVC on them, just dirt and age. Not much effect. Not a high grade of Acetone though, just a can from Home Depot. One of the things I tried was Lemon juice with also not much effect for short periods. I've never tried to revove PVC from a coin because I've never had a coin with PVC stuck to it. If I knew how to stick PVC to a cent, I'd try to put some there and then try to remove it but not if the coin was valuable. Wonder how paint thinner would work on removing PVC from a coin?

sinin1 · April 29, 2005 11:26AM

I thought someone said acetone turned copper pink - wrong?

robertpr · April 29, 2005 1:27PM

<< <i>I thought someone said acetone turned copper pink - wrong? >>

Acetone does leave a bit of film on copper but it's easily removed by alcohol. EZest will turn copper pink though.

nesvt · April 30, 2005 12:56AM

The longest time? About 15 days.
How bad are the PVC spots? I had a coin that had light, medium, and dark green spots on it. Thousands of them. Soaked it for four days, rinsed it in fresh acetone and put it in for a new soak. The old acetone was very cloudy, but I could still see most of the spots. Plus, there was a film now coating the rest of the coin. Repeated this process four more times, shortening the soak time. Light and medium spots went away. The darker spots softened up, but I had to poke a couple with a rose thorn in between the acetone baths. Rinsed in alcohol. Looks much better now, but I started with an AU coin. In one area where the PVC was the darkest, the surface metal is gone. I have a couple of pictures I'll try to dig up some time. I plan to keep the coin raw.

What is the longest soak you've ever given a coin in acetone?

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