Cleaning A Dirty Owl

Actually started off water soaking and toothbrushing...no effect. Water soaking and wire (brass or such)...no effect. Hit it with the KOH, possibly left a bit too long.

 

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Ditch the bronze brush.

@Kentucky Nice job. Now you need to darken the coin chemically. That should be easy for a chemist with a copy of Henley's Formulas, Processes, and Trade Secrets.

 

I've tried and can't get it just right.

 

Steve, my recent photos are done in a similar way but you did not notice because I dropped the two circles on black rather than white. For the record, the two sets below are the exact same brightness on the coins but the coin looks lighter on the black rather than on the white. This is an old optical illusion demonstration that shows your brain is more responsible for what you see than are your eyes.

 

It is brass brush, not bronze. Brass is softer and less likely to scratch. It is actually very useful on many bronze coins, but all ancients are different. If the brass brush fails then I start thinking chemicals.

 

I look at coins with a stereomicroscope. I don't like to see hairlines on even corroded coins.

 

That ain't corrosion, those are wrinkles...these things are...OLD!!!

 

Kentucky => great effort on your photos (I was merely trying to joke with you)

Oh, and I have zero photo-skills ... at least you used the word Photoscape in a sentence => that totally trumps all of my photo knowledge!

 

Nah, you take good photos and I like your sense of humor.

 

Nice job, Kentucky. I think you made the right call cleaning it and I think the results are great. My cleaning experiments never turned out quite as good as yours so I quit a long time ago and just contract the work out when I come across coins like that.

 

OK, last picture, I tried using an iPhone-6 and e-mailing it to myself. Not bad for a $6 coin.

 

I take it back. Good job @Kentucky! An improvement for sure.

 

Your coin looks outstanding @Kentucky. Even more when considering your outlay.

 

Thank you, Gentlemen...we only do it for the fun.