Diocletian Antoninianus - acetone or not?

[BiancasDad]

Hello friends,

I picked up this antoninianus a few months ago, supposedly from and "old" collection. My best guess is that the discoloration is from being in some type of a coin flip for a long time.

I have read old threads on using pure acetone to get gunk, glue, tape etc off of coins. Theoretically, acetone shouldn't react with the metal, but before I try this I would like some opinions. Does anyone think an acetone bath would get rid of the discoloration, and does anyone think it would harm the coin in any way?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts

[Joe Sermarini]

I don't know if it will help, but it won't hurt.

[Matthew C5]

Hi, acetone is a solvent, so will mainly remove material like paints, plastics, etc.. so if this is flip residue, it should work.  I would try dipping a Q-tip and manually doing the work rather than having a bath.  This should make it go faster, allow for pressure, and have you avoid the acetone evaporating into the air in the room.

[SC]

I don't know about flip residue.  From the image it seems to be a thin layer of dirt on the silvering.

Shawn

[BiancasDad]

Thanks for all the answers gents

I will go ahead and try a little acetone first. I have looked at the coin surface under minimal magnification but I just can't tell if it is dirt or residue. Also, I am not sure why my picture isn't clickable.

I will post any results

[Joe Sermarini]

Photos are only clickable if they are too large to display the full size on the board.

[Mayadigger]

Ave!

Hello friends,
I picked up this antoninianus a few months ago, supposedly from and "old" collection. My best guess is that the discoloration is from being in some type of a coin flip for a long time.
I have read old threads on using pure acetone to get gunk, glue, tape etc off of coins. Theoretically, acetone shouldn't react with the metal, but before I try this I would like some opinions. Does anyone think an acetone bath would get rid of the discoloration, and does anyone think it would harm the coin in any way?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts

Hopefully you haven't put your coin in acetone. Odd as it may seem, I'm not a fan of chemical cleaning when another and much less invasive method can be applied.

Simply make a paste of common baking soda. Dab the paste onto a thin cotton towel and then very gently scrub the surface with the paste, using minimal pressure. This will have minimal effects to the patina and will remove ant residual glue or tape.

Best regards,

Kevin

[BiancasDad]

Too late, already done last week, just found time to photograph the results. I'm not all that pleased with the result, live and learn.

[Lee S]

Well, I personally think it looks better.... And to be honest, it looks just like the before photo with the discoloration removed..... Exactly the result I would expect... I don't think you could have done a better job with any method!!!

 Best wishes,

Lee.