Expert: Joe Hylas - 5/7/2008

Question
My father had an extensive gold coin collection stored in cardboard folders, plastic not bullion "pocket" folders, and in individual cardboard & plastic folders.  The problem is he put a adhesive tape on each of a pocket to avoid coin get out of placed This cause many coin has glue and feel start deterioration , but am afraid of damaging the value by cleaning.  What should I do?  

Answer
Hello Carlos.

DO NOT CLEAN THE COINS.  If not done properly, the coins will be severely damaged.

If you are local, you can stop by my office.  If you would like to send the coins to me for review and advice, I would be more than happy to render my opinion of your course of action.

If you feel that you want to try it yourself, I suggest that you hold each coin by the edge when handling them.  Use a small shallow dish filled with acetone.  Place the coin in the acetone for a few hours.
This should disolve the glue residue, then simply rinse with clean tap water.  Lay the coins out on a dry cloth and blow dry them with a hair dryer set on low temperature.

Under no circumstances should you rub the coins or handle them in such a way that your fingers touch the front and back of the coins.

Regards
Joe Hylas
www.AllCoins.US
JoeHylas@aol.com