Billon in Lemon juice/Ammonia???

I know that 'Silver' is O.K. to soak in Lemon Juice and in Ammonia, but what about Billon? O.K>, too, or not, please?

 

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Silver is fine but I have never tried it on Billon/bronze. I would be afraid too since they tend to be porous.

 

I would expect acid to make porosity worse. Would that be worth the trade of removing what you want to see gone?

 

@Mat, Doug, - I take your point, so what is the 'generally accepted' method of cleaning (sprucing up) an otherwise drab Billon coin?

I have a 'lovely' Postumus coin that would look nicer (less 'drab') if it was less grey/black looking.

 

I have used lemon juice or vinager on copper pennies and they come out brand new; but you can't leave them to long, watch them. And after the soak you have to neutralize the coin by rubbing baking soda on it and then rinsing with plain water. If you don't neutralize the coin it will corrode. Try this with an old penny first and see how you like it.

 

I prefer them grey so I don't know. I have bought Postumus ants that look bright silver so they are being cleaned with success. Perhaps the answer is going slow and watching. Acids are not something to put on your coins and go out to lunch.
One answer would be to buy a bright coin you like and leave the drab ones for me.

 

Postumus usually has good silver, share a photo of the coin and maybe we can be more help?

 

i wouldn't experiment on something that was already lovely TC.

i would assume the less silver in the coin the more the acidic lemon juice would damage the coin.

i'd like to see the coin as well.

 

The coin only arrived a day or so ago, andI haven't attributed it yet, so if anyone has an idea on that score, I'd like to hear that, too.




I think that this one may be too 'drab' for you, Doug.

 

Emperor Postumus (260-269CE)
Gallic Empire
AR Antoninianus
Mint: Colonia Agrippinesis or Teveri (261CE)
Obverse: IMP C POSTVMVS P F AVG; radiate, draped and cuirassed bust right
Reverse: LAETITIA AVG; galley left, four rowers and steersman.
Reference: RSC 167

In other words, I'm pretty sure it's good silver...just tarnished and dirty.

 

In my opinion I would leave it as it is.

 

@> Sallent - Thank-you for that. You have saved me from quite a bit of work.

@> M.M. - If you (and Doug) think I should leave well enough alone, I will. Thanks.

 

Clean it!!

 

Leave it alone !

Q

 

I see a green spot at the second T of Laetitia, a sign of bronze?

 

Well, I suppose I'd lightly wash it off with water at most, but I'm with Doug, MM and the others on leaving it as it is.....

And that is a really neat Ant---LOVE the galley!!!

 

There was a double sestertius with the same bust and galley on the reverse, but the legend on the front is different from that of the antoninianus. Besides, I doubt a double sestertius would have any silver wash.

Remember, having some green on these silver coins would not be unusual. After all, silver coins of this era were something like 45% silver, so I could easily see some of the impurities inside having leached out over time and allowed a little patina to form in some spots.

 

For bronze disease, just stick it in a toaster on a tray at 200 degrees F. for about 15 minutes; that should kill the bacteria that cause the disease. As for lemon juice, I did that once with a billon tet from Alexandria (Aug/Tib), and it leached so much copper from it (green disease) that it lost a couple grams of weight. I wish I'd never done that... so, choose wisely!

 

That coin is fine as it is, TC. And it doesn't have bronze disease.

 

I see no BD but suppose you could poke that hard green lump with a toothpick just to be sure it is not powdery. I'd be very surprised if it were.

I have two of those and both are ugly. The first has been with me for many years and the second was cut some slack since you can see an Antoninus Pius sestertius peeking out from under the Postumus. Silver included, there are many types of Postumus easier to find decent than the galley. I'd love to have your new coin and would probably be tempted to ruin it by washing it a little. Then I'd possibly wish I had listened to my own advice. It could go either way.