Cleaning An Ancient Coin

Howdy all,

So I was looking through a mix of ancient coins the other day and found this ancient coin (pics below). I know cleaning coins is sacrilege, but how would I clean this coin without ruining the value?
Some of the close ups might be blurry.

Aidan

 

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Cleaning Ancients is a necessity. Most have been buried for a couple thousand years, so the crud has to be removed. I generally do not buy coins requiring cleaning because the amount of culls one finds in cleaning lots. However, I would suggest soaking your coins in distilled water for a time, removing every so often to use a soft tooth brush to loosen the dirt. Repeat as often as necessary. Good luck

 

Oh, and BTW, this coin is a common LRB and the value is not very much.

 

Thanks Bing, I really want to start a ancient collection, better start some where.

 

Its a good starting point, but I will point out that you can buy nice LRBs in the range of $5 - $10 already cleaned and you know what you're getting. But if you are intent on cleaning, buy from a good dealer such as Dirty Old Coins: http://dirtyoldcoins.com/. I have nothing to do with the site, but am only suggesting a decent seller.

 

Does the amount of gunk on the coin prolong how much time it takes to clean it?

 

Of course, the dirtier the coin the more cleaning it will require. In the case of your coin, it appears to have hard mineral encrustations which will not be easy to remove. And, if you are successful in removing the encrustations, it's likely that the bronze is already damaged by the mineral deposits. However, give it a try just for the sake of it. Perhaps I can be proven wrong and you will have a beautiful LRB. I believe the reverse on your coin is a FEL TEMP REPARATIO Fallen Horseman type which was used by only a handful of rulers, so I believe with a little effort we probably can narrow down the attribution. In fact, I believe your coin is a Constantius II, but there are a few others that should be explored.

Here is a site you may find interesting:

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/fh.html

 

I see you reside in Florida as do I. I live in the Tampa area. You? Also, I have some coins I can send free of charge to get you started with Ancients. They will not be anything of value nor will they be the very best coins from my collection. But they will be decent enough for attribution if you are interested. You will have to send me a mailing address.

 

That's might nice of ya, Bing ... you're an ol' sweetie, eh? (cheers, brother)

Oh, and "welcome" Aidan ..... good luck with your new coin-direction ...

=> Ancients Rock!! (welcome to the Dark Side)

 

OT, but glad to see I'm not the only ancient collector from my state on here Up to a couple of days ago I thought I was the only one

 

Those are cookies? They look more like pieces of bread to me. And not good bread either lol

 

That's what Dark-Side STAR WARS cookies looked like .... c'mon Jango Fett!!

 

Thanks. I just want to encourage YNs into this hobby. I think because Aiden is new, I cannot start a conversation with him and I know the mods/rules don't want emails or addresses used in open forum, so I may have to wait till Aiden has more posts.

 

Thanks man! Umm, I'll take two please.

 

No wonder why the dark side lost in Star Wars. You made their food and got them sick lol

 

LRB is ?


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Late Roman Bronze.

 

Thank you


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Welcome Aidan!

Nope, they're very, very bad scones.

 

I do not think its a Fel temp coin......
More likely an AE4 Theodosius salus reipublicae coin