coin dealer recommended acetone nail polish remover

[funkman]

Went to a coin shop today to ask if they knew what to do to get more detail out of the 1811 large cent I found yesterday. I tried in peroxide bath twice and no dirt came off on the Qtips so I assumed that was all I could do. Well I showed it to the guy at the shop and he told me that with copper coins the best thing to do is let it soak for 24 hours in acetone nail polish remover. He said that it will get all the corrosion off and will show some pitting. He then said that after the acetone bath put on some "Blue Ribbon Professional Coin Conditioner and Preservative" which he sold me of course. He told me to wet the coin with that stuff an let it dry overnight. He also said that it will fill in the pits and bring out more details.
Well I started the acetone bath and will try the other stuff tomorrow and will post before and after shots so you all can see if I did a smart thing or a stupid thing. I don;t care about the value of the coin, just that I want to see more details on it.
Anyone ever use acetone nail polish remover on their copper coins?


Funkman

 

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[JT2]

Nope, but post the pictures of your results please!

 

[l.cutler]

Acetone is regularly used to remove contaminants such as oil, glue, laquer, pvc residue from coins without damaging the coin. I don't think it will do anything for the corrosion.

 

[stringfrenzy]

Hope it works out for you. I'm always interested in hearing about different methods for cleaning finds.

 

[Shortround]

I will be interested to see the results - maybe a before and after picture if possible

 

[PBK]

Many collectors of early coppers prefer a solvent called xylene (or xylol) to acetone.

If you use acetone, I would recommend that you use pharmaceutical grade acetone rather than nail polish remover. The remover contains additional chemicals which might affect the coin over time.

 

[funkman]

not sure if the acetone worked well or not but here is the before and after pics.

Funkman

 

[PBK]

It's hard to see some of the details due to reflection in the photos.

If the coin looks a bit dull, try "Coin Care" or a drop of oil and gently remove the excess with a soft cloth.

 

[funkman]

thanks PBK.

The stuff I used was Blue Ribbon coin conditioner. Is this the same kind of stuff as you mention?

I wanted to actually scan the coin as I did in the first two photos but the scanner was flaking out on me. Will try again maybe tonight.

Funkman