How do you clean coins / remove museum wax from coins?

Question

My wife tried to be creative by displaying some coins in a double-paned glass frame and attaching them to the glass with museum wax (a clear wax used to help things stick to surfaces, even when there is nearby shaking - great if there's an earthquake). However, the coins were too heavy and began to slip down to the bottom of the frame. I took the coins out of the frame and tried to rub the wax off (it's kind of like rubber cement), but there is still a thin layer of slick, waxy residue on the coins. These coins are not necessarily "antiques" or "valuable" collectibles, but they have personal value to me. How can I remove the remaining wax without spending a whole lot of time and/or money in the process?

Answer 1

Hi. I am a coin dealer in the Midwest and here is the correct answer. Do not use Coke, lighter fluid, or any chemical to remove the wax; if the coins would happen to have any value, it would be reduced or ruined by doing so.

The easiest way to remove the wax would be to soften it. The handiest way to do this would be with a hand-held blowdryer. Then take a soft cloth (not a paper towel or tissue) and wipe away the remaining wax. Take another clean cloth and gently re-wipe to make sure no residue is left.

I don't know what kind of coins you have, but if you are still looking for a better way of displaying them, there is a company called Capital Plastics that makes nice plexiglas holders for coins...they screw together and already have a tapered hole for the coin...it won't move and you can see both sides. They will even do custom work for special geroups of odd size items. Check out their site at capitalplastics.com . Your local coin shop may also carry these holders as well.

Hope this helped.

Answer 2

coin collectors tend to think that gentle cleaning with rubbing alcohol is non-destructive.

use something like a Q-tip, or Johnson's swabs.

i guess you could even try soaking the coin in alcohol for a few hours, then rubbing gently.

Answer 3

Try blasting them with a hairdryer and wiping them with a newspaper or paper towl at the same time. Goof Off might work too. Or even lighter fluid.

Answer 4

you may desire to no longer sparkling you funds. maximum coin creditors see cleansing a coin because of the fact the equivalent of stripping down previous furnishings and refinishing it. whilst cleansing, the exterior metallic of the coin is typically stripped. something used to bathe the coin will depart scratches (even one hundred% organic silk will depart hairline scratches). maximum cleansing products could have some form of reaction with the coin's metallic and the exterior metallic is additionally bumped off in this variety. Your ultimate wager is to depart the money on my own. cleansing the coin will depart strains - which could be got here across with the aid of the knowledgeable collector - who in turn won't purchase the wiped sparkling coin. additionally in case you ever had to deliver your coin right into a grading corporation, they are able to nicely known signs and indications of cleansing and could deliver your coin back in a "wiped sparkling" slab (often called a "physique bag" interior the coin international) - that's sometimes a very much decreased fee. in case you genuinely could desire to could desire to could desire to scrub you funds do no longer use the suggestions-set defined above because it is going to react with the metallic on your coin. Use one hundred% acetone (do no longer use fingernail polish remover!). It could desire to be one hundred% organic because of the fact different ingredients will react with the coin metallic. place your coin(s) interior the answer for a number of minutes (do no longer depart in for long classes of time). Rinse your coin(s) in distilled water. next do away with you funds and the two pat dry with a delicate fabric or enable the coin to air dry (air drying is extra desirable as you do no longer possibility scratching the coin with the fabric). by no potential scrub you funds! i could nonetheless recommend you to depart you funds as they are. they won't be superb and glossy yet that's what maximum creditors want.

Answer 5

just leave them in a closed bottle of cola for a few days and they'll be brand new.

Answer 6

agree!