Just a warning to fellow coin collectors,before you attemp any of these methods,whether it's acetone or a commercially available "coin cleaner" (which I think is an oxy moron) try your method on a non valuable coin(to collectors) to see how it reacts first,a coin made of the same alloy.If you feel the need to clean a silver coin try it on a beat up/damaged silver coin first,so you don't destroy the numismatic value of the coin if it is a key date or low mintage.
If it's a circulated proof half like the subject of this topic and you just want it cleaned to look better in your folder than it doesn't really matter because the coin even in perfect condition isn't very valuable anyway.
I cleaned a lot of coins when I was young and not knowledgable about coins and I still have them in my collection but they will never( at least in my lifetime) be toned again to where you couldn't tell they were cleaned.
I have a few seated lib halfs and seated quarters/seated dimes that were passed on to me by my grandparents when I was around 8 years old and the first thing I did was dip them in the coin cleaner from the coin shop and the dealer didn't even question what I was going to use it on(I know he didn't have to say anything but it would have helped me out a lot if he had told me it SIGNIFIGANTLY reduces the value of coins to clean them,even as a kid I would have had listened to him)now I have several,PREVIOUSLY valuable/desireable coins that have brown spots and irregular rainbow toning on them that don't even look good displayed in a folder anymore.
Moral of my story is don't clean valuable/very old coins EVER and if you have some walking lib's or franklin's(bullion coins) that you want to shine up to look good in your folder go ahead because there value is intrinsic only and when you go to sell them for silver melt they will give you the same price for a shiny common date walking lib/franklin as they will for a dirty example so it doesn't matter,just don't clean any 21-d's/rarities etc.!Leave them as found.
Of course anyone can do anything they want,but I think even the non coin collectors on this forum want to get as much for a found coin as they can and if they clean them they won't be worth nearly as much as they would be untouched.Just a thought.
