shaun7 said:
About the car, well you transferred most of the poison containers and guns to my car before we left and left the most incriminating stuff behind the bushes didn't you? So it was not too scary......well on second thought maybe a bit....
About cleaning bronze/copper coins and objects. Those are for sure the hardest things to clean up! I am sure you will get many answers about this one, there are many ways to do things, and most of the time encrusted bronze coins can be a headache to to get them clean. Best thing is to leave them alone I guess, but we don't want to do that either you know, we want to see and display them don't we? If you can determine or think that its a rare or valuable coin, DO LEAVE it alone and let someone with experience work on it. Might cost a little, but doing it wrongly will remove any 'rare' value of the coin. The most important, don't scratch the coin, and don't in any case remove the patina, that is very important. When you find something you thing could be valueable I would really recommend not cleaning it at all until you know for sure, this also applies to objects, not only coins.
If its just a normal coin, and you still want to clean it (I do most of the time) you can try this. Soak it in distilled water for a while, then using that toothbrush (darn good idea about using your woman's!!!!! - have to try that myself!) carefully try to clean it. This will get rid of the surface stuff in anycase, and you can use a little dishsoap also. You can then use a little baking soda and scrubbing to see if the crud comes off. If the stuff is still there wash it with try soaking it in olive oil overnight, let dry a bit in a warm place, and then with a soft cloth try to get some of it off but NOT ALL. You can carefully use a toothpick to get some of it off, especially dirt in between the letters, but be careful. The idea is to repeat this step, soaking and removing the crud step by step. And repeat...and repeat...and, well you get the picture. This process can take days, weeks, or even months. Warming the oil and coin in this process is a good idea, I have heard of people doing that on a old coffee maker, you know putting the container (glass) on the 'keep warm' place. Or you could use your wife's coffee maker, seeing she does not compain about the toothbrush.
On second thought, where did you find such a woman
I want one too...
so i need to upgraid to a cortes after having a turn on crusaders machine and finding the roman!
