2 Real

[Stan Milgram]

Found in a hay field. I had been in the field all day and was ready to leave... and this!

I think I'll use the baking soda / aluminum foil cleaning technique unless someone has a better idea. Oh, and don't give me any crap for wanting to clean it.

 

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[against the wind]

Really nice find
Post some pictures of the cleaned coin

 

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[Mackaydon]

Your 2R coin is from Lima, Peru.
The assayer’s initial “I” stood for Ignacio Zenon de Galvez.
The assayer’s initial “J” stood for Juan Martinez de Roxas.
Great coin; and strange where it was found.
Don......

 

[Stan Milgram]

cleaned

I tried the foil / baking soda technique and it didn't do much on this coin. I settled with using the baking soda paste and rubbing and got what I was looking for. Not ideal, but much better and more appealing to me.

 

[Ahab8]

Great find buddy. I always use a light lemon juice soak. Let me know if you want to see some before and afters to help you decide. I would want to clean that lightly as well. I do like to keep the dark toning but I like to lighten them up enough to get more detail to show

 

[Ahab8]

Hey Stan I'm off to work but just wanted to give you a couple of examples for the future. He's a couple of mine




I apologize I hadn't seen that you already cleaned it when I first posted. I like the lemon juice because there's really no scratching or damage to the surface and you're able to slowly clean until you get the desired look. I absolutely love the Spanish silver. The designs are just really appealing to me. Great find and I hope there's many more in the future

 

[Erik in NJ]

Definitely more eye appeal. You should be able to get the remainder of the "black" off...try the water and wrapping the coin in foil trick...then maybe a light baking soda rub between the fingers afterwards to remove any residual blackening. Again--nice find and good job on the cleaning.

Ahab: Tell us more about the lemon juice please. Do you use it straight or dilute it? I have used lemon juice to clean some heavy crud off a livery button I found in England and it did an outstanding job on that one.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

Nice big 2R coin. Congrats! I've cleaned a number of coins - a silver coin with dark, blotchy toning has no eye appeal. I have no experience with the use of foil, but I've cooked a few coins with electrolysis and had some great results. 45 seconds or so of cook time and all the harsh toning comes off between your fingers using a small amount of mineral oil. It's like magic. Check out the treatment of this Liberty Seated half dime. Toning on the coin was substantial, but the electrolysis did the trick in 45 seconds. Rubbing the coin with baking soda would have worn away too much detail. Best of luck on whatever course you take.

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I've always been a big fan of electrolysis too and highly recommend it. And like Jim said, it usually doesn't take long although some coins can be more stubborn than others. I just do it a minute at a time and keep checking it. Good luck and please post the results.

 

[Mackaydon]

I've had success in packing the coin and baking soda in foil; then leaving in a bath of distilled water-- and watching it periodically so that the process does not overly 'cook' the coin. I would never 'clean' the coin with baking soda which would create minute scratch marks. Best for me to use only electrolysis and that's it.
Don....

 

[Steve in PA]

Nice coin. A 2 reale Spanish is a nice thrill to dig. Now my 2 cents on the cleaning. Very few of them are worth much money. Almost all of them already have minute scratches from contact with small stones, sand, dirt, etc. Plowing of the fields and the frost freeze thaw causes scratches. I use the baking soda paste to clean my Spanish silver. I really don't care about some microscopic scratches on a $15-20 coin. I prefer the "display appeal".

 

[oxbowbarefoot]

NICE find Stan.I'd do a little electrolysis on it.

GOD Bless

Chris

I think he's got it right with the baking soda and foil. Much gentler than electrolysis.

 

[Patriot 1776]

Found in a hay field. I had been in the field all day and was ready to leave... and this!

I think I'll use the baking soda / aluminum foil cleaning technique unless someone has a better idea. Oh, and don't give me any crap for wanting to clean it.

Great find, I just used some baking soda for mine, not sure about the aluminum trick

 

[Ahab8]

Definitely more eye appeal. You should be able to get the remainder of the "black" off...try the water and wrapping the coin in foil trick...then maybe a light baking soda rub between the fingers afterwards to remove any residual blackening. Again--nice find and good job on the cleaning.

Ahab: Tell us more about the lemon juice please. Do you use it straight or dilute it? I have used lemon juice to clean some heavy crud off a livery button I found in England and it did an outstanding job on that one.

Hey Erik,
I have used the lemon juice straight from a lemon and not diluted it. I use plastic gloves to hold the edges of the coin in the lemon juice after a brief soak and use a super soft mascara brush to gently brush back and forth across the face of the coin. The brush is so soft that it would never scratch the coin but it helps to get into all of the little books and crannies. It's always served me well and I've managed to keep the dark toning. Here's a barber that I did


Stan I hope you don't mind me posting a few pics. Not trying to hijack your thread brother. I just want people to get as much knowledge as possible on the possible options so they can make the best decision for themselves

 

[The Patriot]

Lots of Spanish coming in…nice to see..congrats

 

[Erik in NJ]

Hey Erik,
I have used the lemon juice straight from a lemon and not diluted it. I use plastic gloves to hold the edges of the coin in the lemon juice after a brief soak and use a super soft mascara brush to gently brush back and forth across the face of the coin. The brush is so soft that it would never scratch the coin but it helps to get into all of the little books and crannies. It's always served me well and I've managed to keep the dark toning. Here's a barber that I did

That looks great! I've used the bottled lemon juice in the past. Do you think fresh makes a difference? What do you mean by brief soak timeframe-wise? The livery button was so encrusted I think I soaked it over night in undiluted lemon juice, but it came out great. If you do a search on my user name from a few years back you will see what the results were with the button. It was quite remarkable.

BTW, I have seen a jeweler put 95% of the toning back on a Seated love token that was cleaned shiny before necklace mount was soldered on it. It came out quite good. I'll have to try and find out what chemical they used to do it. I was quite astonished with the results they achieved, but this was a silversmith in the diamond district in NYC. It was a while ago, but if I can get any info I'll post here.

Thanks for the info and reference pics. I'll have to bribe my wife now for a mascara brush

 

[19cbb]

Stan, congrats on one sweet find but with all due respect, I think you ruined the looks of that coin.
Don't know why, but to me now it looks like a shiny replica made out of a non-silver material.
Then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Ahab8]

That looks great! I've used the bottled lemon juice in the past. Do you think fresh makes a difference? What do you mean by brief soak timeframe-wise? The livery button was so encrusted I think I soaked it over night in undiluted lemon juice, but it came out great. If you do a search on my user name from a few years back you will see what the results were with the button. It was quite remarkable.

BTW, I have seen a jeweler put 95% of the toning back on a Seated love token that was cleaned shiny before necklace mount was soldered on it. It came out quite good. I'll have to try and find out what chemical they used to do it. I was quite astonished with the results they achieved, but this was a silversmith in the diamond district in NYC. It was a while ago, but if I can get any info I'll post here.

Thanks for the info and reference pics. I'll have to bribe my wife now for a mascara brush

Erik I'm sure it makes no difference on the lemon juice. And on the less valuable coins I have used a soft toothbrush with great results. I think I only used the mascara brush on the PTS. That was a very nerve wracking experience lol. If memory serves I do about 30 seconds at a time. Just submerge for about 20 then wipe or brush for about 10. Then a drop of soap and a water rinse to neutralize any remaining juice. I then allow it to dry and see if I like the toning. I can't stand old silvers that are bright and shiny. Some say I went to far with the tree coin but I love the look of it and most seem to agree. One thing I've learned is that you can never make everybody happy. Just make sure you make yourself happy my friend. That's what's important. IP was the one who got me into the lemon juice. You can also use the old school white crest and some water on non valuable silvers. Just put the paste on your fingers and hold the coin under a stream of warm water as you rub between your fingers. I would NEVER do that with a silver of any rarity or value

 

[NEPADIGGER7]

Great find man!

 

[Captain Caveman]

Congratz on an awesome find!

 

[Professor of Engineering]

A very nice detailed reale recovery with excellent lettering, congratulations!

 

[pepperj]

Nice going on the silver and the results of what you want is your choice. Lots of great suggestions so far on the thread, and many coming from pure experience and trial and error of cleaning. Personally on newer non key date silvers it's a tad bit of deleted baking soda and a very light rub. I've used the foil from cig. packs and a generous glob of spit and when it starts to heat up and smelling like a bad beer fart it's time to check it out, this seems to work better than just water for the spit has acidity to it maybe. I've had mixed results on new silvers, better results on the milled silvers, and pretty amazing results on the hammered silvers.