How do I clean the dirt and scum from this letter?

Not correct

 

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Wonder if RenWax would work for hemorrhoids?

 

Inspector43, posted: "Insider, did you ever get the answer to your original question?
I learned that if you do anything to an ancient coin after it is removed from the ground it would be considered "tooling" and reduce the value to nothing.

I really cannot understand this confusion. Nevertheless, I suggest you read my posts again and see it you can unlearn what you think you know. I'm sorry but I couldn't make it more clear. Things like brushing off dirt from a coin is not tooling although it may harm the coin's surface. Of course, at the level most work at, they probably wouldn't know.

Now, I shall start my day feeling as a complete failure.

 

I don't consider you a failure. I feel like I am the failure in my attempts to clean coins. I am an novice with about two year experience. All of my cleaning projects start off as crusty and unidentifiable chunks. I work at them slowly and continuously look at close representations trying to find patterns to follow. There is no intent to deceive anyone, not even myself. Sometimes I take off too much or not enough. I clean, soak, clean observe through a microscope, continue. Given this information you labeled me a "self confessed coin doctor". A lot of people give serious consideration to your opinions. A lot of people grew understanding that "coin doctoring" was a bad thing.

Where do I go from there? Do I stop cleaning coins? Do I apply a less effective technique? Do I continue my process and not publish my results?

I always appreciate feedback - good, bad or ugly.

 

See if this makes sense...

I am a confessed "coin doctor" too. I change the appearance of coins and get asked/paid to do it. What I do is not tooling or smoothing. What you are doing is tooling and smoothing. But that is what you need to do to "fix" the coins.

So - I would continue to do what you are doing because you enjoy it. The more experience you acquire, the better the result - usually. Unfortunately, some coins "blow up" without a good reason.

 

In case you missed this Numismatic News article:

My New Year’s resolution is in the form of a confession to collectors everywhere who are reading this column. I confess to being a coin doctor. Err what? Yes, I alter the appearance of any coin I’m asked to conserve. In my defense, I like to think it makes them more attractive and preserves them for future generations; but technically they have been changed using either chemical, mechanical, or a combination of techniques to alter their appearance.

You might be surprised to learn that there are a large number of us in the community of collectors. Have you ever “dipped” a coin to remove haze? So why do the words “coin doctor” carry such a bad connotation? Easy, it’s because there are “good” coin doctors and those who are not so good both in their level of expertise and especially in their intentions. Why is the alteration being done? For example, is it to preserve that coin or hide something? This is the part where I get to remove my surgical mask and gloves and become a forensic Pathologist. You see, after leaving one numismatic conservation service to start another one, I now spend a lot more time looking for “altered” coins than making them.

Like this one: Baking soda residue on an improperly cleaned coin used in the article.

 

The old distinction was whether the process was removing foreign material like dust and dirt or not Therefore, a brush to remove dust and dirt was not doctoring.

Then, aggressive brushing left a polished appearance, altering the appearance. was this doctoring or not?

What about treating active corrosion? If left untreated, it continues to eat away at the surfaces. Is this doctoring or conserving?

Basic knowledge of chemistry indicates anything which can protect copper from the air will stop or at least hinder future chemical reactions and began a lacquering and waxing phase to conserve the highly reactive copper.

Then toning and luster became important and old conservation techniques fell out of favor. It's much like the dipping craze when blast white was the most desirable condition for silver. Was this doctoring or conserving?

The answer appears to change over time and by preference.

But once the copper corrodes away, it's gone forever. The best course of action is simply pass along any information about the coin and any efforts to change it, whether those changes might be considered conservation or improvements.

 

I insist, 4,937 angels can dance on the head of a pin.

 

Same as the number of posts in this useless thread.

 

you get my point...

 

This is absolutely correct.

Many do not seem to understand that ANY corrosion on a coin is oxidized metal from the surface. You cannot undo corrosion. You can remove it, but the metal that got corroded is still gone and pits are left where it was. The pits may be very small if the corrosion was very light, but the original surface is gone.

Of course, if you do not remove the corrosion and protect the coin from further oxidation, it will just get worse and further damage the coin.

So, remove corrosion when you can, but don't expect to end up with anything like a pristine coin.

 

Other than these last two comments, I found them useful and informative.

 

I guess we need a moderator to guard the forum and prevent "useless threads" from being posted. Sort of like Facebook, Twitter and other social medium are doing.

 

Who cares whether anything was "tooled?" You're in abstract debate, now. Get your feet back on the ground. We don't want to see scratches. Can you get it off without scratching it? You have to pick away at it, you know that. No solution is going to get it off. Electrolysis, ultrasound, why don't you put it in a nuclear reactor and carefully bombard it with electrons for a couple weeks? Are you serious? If you want it off, give it a good soak in oil to loosen what it will, and get in there under magnification with a toothpick or some such thing and get to work on it, understanding the risk if you slip up. Or just let the doggone thing alone!

 

eddiespin, posted: "Who cares whether anything was "tooled?" You're in abstract debate, now. Get your feet back on the ground. We don't want to see scratches. Can you get it off without scratching it? You have to pick away at it, you know that. No solution is going to get it off. Electrolysis, ultrasound, why don't you put it in a nuclear reactor and carefully bombard it with electrons for a couple weeks? Are you serious? If you want it off, give it a good soak in oil to loosen what it will, and get in there under magnification with a toothpick or some such thing and get to work on it, understanding the risk if you slip up. Or just let the doggone thing alone!"

Great advice! I get to see the results of this every day. Folks selling coins need to find more collectors like this.

 

Exactly. They're arguing in the air. Always look beyond the label, whether it's "tooling," "cleaning," or what have you. Understand the "Why?" of it. Tooling leaves scratches. Cleaning disrupts luster, which is like the icing on the cake, and is irretrievable. That's what I teach my kids. Look for those disturbances and judge accordingly. Take off for those when you see them. Keep your eyes on the ball, on those criteria that for sure compromise the coin. Let the others go on an on about the labels, it's just blowing hot air back and forth.

 

So what's the answer to the OP's original question?

 

That is THE BEST analogy for a coin's original surface i have ever heard!

 

Yep. Who wants contaminated icing? Well, I still want to lick the spoon.