1942 Walking Liberty Half FS-801 DDR w/PVC Residue ???

[Coppercoins]

I sent into PCGS a 1942 Walking Liberty Half FS-801 and a 1964 Kennedy Half DDO-001 with original mint luster, but both came back ungraded and un-slabbed (Thank Goodness) but both w/ PVC Residue ??? What a waste of time and money. But is there anything I can do to remedy this issue?

Thank you,

Coppercoins

[Westin]

Yes, 100% pure acetone. No scents, no dyes. Daniel has videos on this. Please show us the coins if you have them. If PVC is the only issue then they can be restored without harming the actual coin under the gunk.

[kurtspringmann]

You cannot repair any damage done to silver by long term PVC exposure -- but a good long dip in 100% acetone with no additives (the good stuff is the Walmart generic that has no scents or coloring) will remove PVC from silver coins. You may need to gently assist it with a softly used cotton swab since the coins are not proof coins, but be gentle.

[Earle42]

Go here for all the info you need.
Link: https://coinauctionshelp.com/forum/view ... hp?t=20498


BTW...just curious and feel free not to answer.

Why would you send either of these in? It would cost more for the grading than you would get out of them. You won't get the money level grades. That is not what the high grades are all about. The money grade slabs work like bait for the companies to get people to pay the expensive membership fees and send in coins.

[Westin]

You cannot repair any damage done to silver by long term PVC exposure -- but a good long dip in 100% acetone with no additives (the good stuff is the Walmart generic that has no scents or coloring) will remove PVC from silver coins. You may need to gently assist it with a softly used cotton swab since the coins are not proof coins, but be gentle.

I keep hearing "PVC damage." And now, while my experience is limited, I've restored coins with the THICKEST most GUNKY build up of PVC. Sometimes taking hours to remove it. And they always come out fine. And you could tell that these have been in PVC for decades. Maybe it damages copper, but the silvers always turn out good if I put enough effort (and caution) into restoring them.

[kurtspringmann]

You cannot repair any damage done to silver by long term PVC exposure -- but a good long dip in 100% acetone with no additives (the good stuff is the Walmart generic that has no scents or coloring) will remove PVC from silver coins. You may need to gently assist it with a softly used cotton swab since the coins are not proof coins, but be gentle.

I keep hearing "PVC damage." And now, while my experience is limited, I've restored coins with the THICKEST most GUNKY build up of PVC. Sometimes taking hours to remove it. And they always come out fine. And you could tell that these have been in PVC for decades. Maybe it damages copper, but the silvers always turn out good if I put enough effort (and caution) into restoring them.

I've seen it on more uncirculated war nickels than any other coin that I handle often enough to see it bad enough to damage the surface of the coin, but I agree that most of the time it does not cause permanent damage in my experience either.

[Westin]

Interesting! Did you have any photos of it? I really don't know what PVC damage should look like.

[SensibleSal66]

Interesting! Did you have any photos of it? I really don't know what PVC damage should look like.

Did you try Google?

[Westin]

Interesting! Did you have any photos of it? I really don't know what PVC damage should look like.

Did you try Google?

It gives photos with the PVC still on. I'm wondering if there's supposed to be pitting or some kind of corrosion underneath.

[kurtspringmann]

Interesting! Did you have any photos of it? I really don't know what PVC damage should look like.

No, I sold both on EBay several years ago and unfortunately did not have the foresight to keep a picture and they no longer have pictures of them. I had great pictures too, as I wanted to disclose the damage well enough but after the sales didn't see any need at the time.

Both had very shallow but noticeable pitting in the area after the green slimy stuff was soaked away, there was enough volume of the wet looking green slime that I expected post removal damage in both cases, I've really only seen damage where the PVC area had a fair amount of the wet looking greenish slime.

[Westin]

Interesting! Did you have any photos of it? I really don't know what PVC damage should look like.

No, I sold both on EBay several years ago and unfortunately did not have the foresight to keep a picture and they no longer have pictures of them. I had great pictures too, as I wanted to disclose the damage well enough but after the sales didn't see any need at the time.

Both had very shallow but noticeable pitting in the area after the green slimy stuff was soaked away, there was enough volume of the wet looking green slime that I expected post removal damage in both cases, I've really only seen damage where the PVC area had a fair amount of the wet looking greenish slime.

Ouch! Well it's pitted then that's no good. That's certainly damage. Do you think it might be the copper that gets it worse than silver? I would imagine fine gold bullion is immune to PVC damage... not that it won't get the slime, just no pitting because gold is nearly chemically infallible.

[kurtspringmann]

Yes, I think that the copper content is the primary target, and I've never even heard of anyone having a real issue with gold. Silver seems fairly immune to long term damage compared to copper, the more copper the worse it seems to develop, I need to search Daniel's videos to see if he has gone into it -- if not perhaps it would be an interesting topic.

[Earle42]

A few years before leaving home for college I put out some cash and bought some Harco albums. I loved the look, feel, incredible new idea for the format, and how the coins looked great in them. Here are some pics from the invaluable.com website of a sold Ike set in one of these folders.

Getting the collection back out from storage was heartbreaking. I had a ton of slimed coins.

[Coppercoins]

Here are the pictures of the two coins and they were taken with my cell phone.

[Westin]

Yep, use acetone on them. First just let them soak in it. If you need to, you can adgetate it with a Q-Tip. But don't press and rub on the coin.

[Coppercoins]

Thank you, Westin, I am scared to clean my coins, all my life I have been told not to. I have gone through many thousands and thousands of coins to find all my varieties. I even have a few credited to me by John Wexler in Coin World, though that was many years ago. I still have many varieties from J.T. Stanton, John Wexler, and Charles Daughtrey and others that I have traded with over the years. I have so many I don't have a long enough life yet to grade them all using my PCGS membership. The last 8 coins I sent in using my Platinum membership made me money on paper. But since I have not sold any that is a moot point. I also have a great library of books and coin periodicals. I even bought J.T. Stanton's collection before he passed. He was a good man. Thank you, I will try and find some videos to help me clean those two coins, skeptical as I am. I only wonder why PCGS didn't ask me if I wanted them cleaned/restored (now that is an interesting label). Then graded after the fact, I have seen where NGC offers a similar service.

[Westin]

Acetone can't do anything to your coins. It's not cleaning like with a cloth or a strong acid. Sometimes though, it only loosens the PVC but doesn't take it off, so that's where a Q-Tip comes in. You can roll the head of the Q-Tip back and forth so it's not sliding, or you can use VERY LIGHT rubbing. If you rub, hold the Q-Tip exactly like this:

See, I'm not pincing it. I have my fingers pinched, and the Q-Tip is resting on top, wedged in just enough to hold it. If you hold it like that, you can rub it on a coin all day and not put any tiny hairlines in it, even on proof coins. There won't be enough force to break the molecular structure and push the metal around.

Pro tip, don't contaminate your acetone. After you let the coin soak, that acetone goes in the toilet. It's no good.
Another tip, if you need Q-Tips, be wasteful with them. Dip them in acetone, then it's one-use. Don't get PVC on the cotton then dunk it back in the acetone. You'll just contaminate the acetone and reintroduce the same liquefied PVC back onto the coin after you just got it off. (I KNOW, I'VE DONE IT!) So once the acetone evaporates and your cotton is dry, use the other end and then throw it out. It's like a rag. You aren't going to use a disgusting grease covered rag to get grease off your hands. It won't work.

Other than that, just watch Daniel's videos on it. Get the rolling technique down if you need to use that. Ya know, don't be afraid to practice on a worthless coin.

[Daniel]

[Earle42]

Please see Link: https://coinauctionshelp.com/forum/view ... hp?t=20498

It is everything you need to know about the difference in cleaning coins vs. conserving coins. Getting rid of PVC is not cleaning b/c you are not removing any metal from the coin. And I suggest soaking it in acetone as a way to get all of it. I use a baby food jar with a lid, ut in 1/4 inch of acetone and let the coin sit for 30 seconds or so. Acetone cannot chemically or physically alter the coin itself in any way. There is no trace of acetone left on the coin at all b/c acetone cannot exist at room temperature as a liquid so it entirely evaporates. There is no way to ever tell if a coin has been in acetone, and all it does is remove impurities from the surface..