Advice on Cleaning.

Saving one's self a bit of work is a very different motivation from doing one's best for the preservation of the coin while trying to make it more presentable. The problem with your solution is that ancient alloys are not sufficiently uniform for one to be SURE what effect a given concentration of a chemical is going to have. Moreover, the effects of a chemical are not always immediately obvious, and the latency effect can sometimes lead to new problems down the road requiring a different set of solutions. With mechanical cleaning the effects are immediately observable and if satisfactory do not need repetition. But mechanical cleaning is limited to the removal of encrustations, adhesions and similar surface obstructions.

In the end, what you see is what you are going to get, and in cleaning coins I can see more with a mechanical approach than by rolling the dice on chemicals. Beyond that the risk to which you alluded is minimized by clear sight and a steady (trained) hand. I recommend to numismatists to learn the skill and stop rolling the dice on their inexact understanding of chemistry. Cutting corners is not responsible conservation.

 

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i just started buying encrusted and low grade ancients that come out to 2-3 dollars each after bid, shipping etc. Learning by trial and error. Luckily i have a binocular microscope since my mom was a science teacher, retired now. Can’t imagine cleaning without one, or with a magnifier and one hand (ive tried this!). I dislike having crud on my ancients and enjoy the process of cleaning/conserving them. It’s very intimate, meditative, and fun. It’s not something you can really do or ahould do with moderns.

 

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