Should I Dip This Nero Quinarius?

It's a very rare coin in a very high grade (Caesarea Cappadocia), but the toning is uneven and ugly on the obverse and almost totally black on the reverse. Has anyone had any experience brightening up silver coins this dark?

 

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Idk, it looks pretty good as is.

 

I agree with Bing. I wish I could open up your photo more, though.

Hiiiiyaaaa @John Anthony!!

 

Well, here's the large version if you insist. I typically don't like giant images of such small coins, but your will is my command!

 

Looks like hoard patina, the best kind. I would leave it.

 

Dipping probably will do more harm than good. All dipping does is remove a thin layer of oxidized metal with a mild acid. If the toning has worked its way deep into the coin, as it has done here, the dark color you don't like will not disappear. However, some of the surfaces that you might like will be changed.

I don't know about ancients, but with U.S. coins, you should never dip anything that is in less than Choice AU condition. The only reason to dip is to remove some unattractive toning that is impairing the eye appeal of the coin. When you dip a well circulated silver coin, the best you will get is a pasty white piece that has little eye appeal and screams to the advanced collector, "I've been dipped!!!"

 

That’s a great coin @John Anthony ! I’d put it in a wooden cabinet and wait for the tone to even out. It might take a while but you’ll end up with a nicely toned specimen in the end.

 

Neat coin. Don't have much advice since the only thing I have tried on a darkish antoninianus of Phillip the Arab was a soak in lemon juice for a couple of minutes, which seemingly had no effect.

 

..i concur with our peers John...i'd leave it alone on that respect..heck, it lQQks kinda like its been stylized with the hair turnin' a bit gray.....but then again..its your coin and call..you'd like to remove the remaining patina to match and i can understand that i reckon..

 

The encrustation appears to be horn silver (aka silver chloride, chlorargyrite/ cerargyrite). All of the colors present, including the chartreuse green, are typical of horn silver encrustation. If the coin is dear to you, I would suggest having any conservation done by an expert. The source of the silver in the encrustation is the coin itself; the chlorine comes from the environment. Removal may reveal unattractive rough surfaces. Horn silver usually darkens over time with exposure to light, which may be your best option.

 

It's over 1500 years old. It's entitled to have some stuff on it. I think it's perfect as is!

 

I like the way it looks John. I would be more concerned about that green stuff than the black.

 

No.

Would that be a Hemidrachm?

 

I was thinking the same thing: it's a provincial coin, so it wouldn't be a quinarius. See https://www.acsearch.info/search.ht...de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&currency=usd&order=1 .

 

I have Cathy King’s book of the Quinariii. It does not list any Quinariii from Nero.

 

I would be afraid to... but I certainly see why you are considering it.

 

Yes, hemidrachm is correct. They sometimes get called quinarii by dealers, which is a bad habit. Thanks for the input everyone! I'll leave it be - it is what it is.

 

I agree with @Bing. It looks fine as it is.

I wouldn’t dip it. Then again I don’t like ancients that look brand new. They should show their age in my opinion.

 

I dipped this coin that had a similar black stain across it in a slight ammonia water mixture. Ancus Marcus. Crawford 425/1. L.Marcus Philipus, AR Denarius, 56 BC, Rome. 3.7gm.
And it did lighten the stain but didn't remove it.

 

There goes the rainbow.