Hi all, Couple of coin cleaning questions. 1. You may remember this Probus from an earlier post I made... I am cleaning it with distilled water; letting it soak for 24-48 hours, switching the water and brushing the coin with a cut-down toothbrush. Repeat. Some sand is slowly coming off to expose silvering underneath but there are also some hard encrustations staying put. I know this can take a very long time with distilled water... but how long should I continue? Should I consider olive oil/other stuff? 2. I also have this Diocletian with some light green stuff. Worried it will eat away at the coin. Is there a strategy to remove or just leave it as is? Thanks everyone!
Honestly can barely see the greens. If it’s light green and powdery then it might be bronze disease which you will need to treat with distilled water
For the Probus, just keep on keeping on. Nice coin. Olive oil will 1) take twice as long as water and 2) darken the coin. For the Diocletian, water and the toothbrush and then dry it thoroughly in an oven set on "warm", or you could get some VerdiCare.
Patience and water changes will serve better than harsher methods. Eat olive oil on greens; clean more carefully.
Both coins appear to be in great shape. Probus: keep doing what you are doing. You could try adding a drop of dishwashing liquid to your toothbrush. Patience. Diocletian: I'd leave it as is. The verdigris is not distracting. Trying to remove it may leave surface pits it its place.
If you really really want to, you can try very diluted VerdiCare on the Diocletian, but I wouldn't. I think it looks great. And it's always better to "under-clean" than "over-clean".
I wouldn't worry about that unless you keep it in a steam room If you're worried, Renaissance Wax can help.
