Roman Coins to Clean

[coinking]

Hi, folks! I'm a brand new member looking for cleaning tips on Roman, Greek and Byzantine coins that have been buried for centuries. Lots of "clad" on them, and have tried lemon oil and salt water, coarse grit tumbling, olive oil, hot glue and so forth. (Was going to take a shot at the potato trick too.) A few are starting to look presentable, but most still have a thick layer on top. Would welcome any tips you can supply, and thank you in advance for your assistance!

 

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[fiatboy]

The pros use electrolysis, but with ancient coins, I highly suggest that you do your homework and experiment with some modern coins first. Ancients, with few exceptions, will never look as new and shiny as you want them to. Copper and silver tarnish over time. Copper, in any amount, will eventually darken. My experience is with modern coins, so I wish I could be of more assistance. Good luck!

 

[downindixie]

The link listed below will give you all the info you need about cleaning ancient coins.
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php

 

[fiatboy]

That's a good link!

 

[coinking]

Thank you for the wonderful link, and to all respondents!!

 

[smhead]

You might look at my article on cleaning Romans. I go by Scotvs Capitis at the FORVM board linked above, and can vouch for the good cleaning advice there.

Electrolysis can be useful, some claim it is the best way and highly market a particular yahoo group that is loaded with zapping knowledge. While the methods that are professed on that yahoo group is THE ultimate in ancient coin zapping wisdom, and some there claim no coins they have ever zapped have been ruined, physically, zapping always alters a coin in some manner. I zap a lot of coins, and do not get all worked up over those purists who say zapping is next to evil, but I also don't trust zapping 100%. I still prefer to use the less risky methods first. Coins cleaned without zapping in my opinion are nicer to look at, though a well zapped and repatinated coin can take your breath away.

Try this:
http://scotvscapitis.blogspot.com/2006/10/step-by-step-cleaning-and-attributing.html

 

[coinking]

Hi, Scott! I'm the one who is posting your site for folks who have cleaning issues!! It was originally sent as a link to help me, and I've been passing it along. I'm using the very patient distilled water method, since I figure that if a coin is over a thousand years old, I don't begrudge taking a year to clean it carefully. Just for 'grins and giggles' I took a brass Dremel brush to some that it was obvious would never show enough detail to attribute, and they look nice enough to excite interest in my young nieces and nephews. Just show coins, of course. I'm picking and grinning on the good ones. Also purchased the diamond dental tool - WOW!!! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!