Hi all, I've recently bought a fourrée drachm of Appolonia (ID help by @AnYangMan). The coin was relatively cheap, but is in bad shape even for a fourrée. I've decided to try and restore it just a little bit, but was curious about the general opinion on how to start. First, the coin: Weight 2.19 g, diameter 13 mm. I have not yet found this specific coin online, but as @AnYangMan mentioned: on Apollonian coins, the cow is facing left or right, while on the dyrrachium coins, the cow faces right. In this case, the cow faces left. So: would you clean a coin in this shape, and if so: how? Also very curious on other examples of Appolonian coinage.
Hey, I recognise that coin ! This fourrée indeed imitates the issues from Apollonia, but given the garbled and otherwise unknown magistrate names is certainly not the product of an official mint. As for cleaning, there are certainly people with more experience in that field here than me, so let’s wait for their opinion. I personally like the contrast that the dark patina of the bronze core forms with the silver plating! My incredibly humble example (which is actually form the Neighbouring city of Dyrrhachium):
Leave it as is, when it comes to fourrées, you never know what may be lurking underneath & they're delicate as it is. Apollonia, Illyria, Greece, (200 - 80 B.C.) AR Drachm O: APIΣTΩN (moneyer), cow left, head turned, suckling calf right. R: double stellate pattern within double linear square with sides curved inward. 3.2g 17.5mm
Unless the green fuzz is breaking out from all the holes in the silver, leave it alone. It’ll only get worse.
My only Apollonia coin... Apollonia Pontica Thrace AR Diobol 1.3g 410-323 BCE Apollo-Anchor crab A Tupalov 56. They call it a crab? - I think it is a crawdaddy (crawfish to some of yall) Ex: @red_spork Clean the Fouree? Hmmm... nope, would not do that UNLESS there is fuzzy / flaking off green stuff. OTHERWISE, as for me, I do NO cleaning of any of my coins.
Anything other than scrubbing it with a nylon-bristle brush--with, maybe distilled water and a little dish washing liquid--is asking for trouble. The problem is that you have exposed silver and bronze, and what tends to be effective on one metal also tends to be damaging to the other. Also, it looks like some of the metal foil is in danger of flaking off. Proceed with extreme caution and patience.
