Best way to clean ancients w/o damaging!?

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by Justin Cohen, Nov 29, 2021.

  1. Justin Cohen

    Justin Cohen Member

    What's the best way to clean up dirty ancients without damaging them!? For both silver and copper coins?
    Olive oil? Baking soda? Soap? Toothbrush scrub? Soaking?
     
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  3. panzerman

    panzerman Well-Known Member

    I would say, let a professional do it. When the SS-Central America gold coin hoard was/ is being salvaged. Experts clean the residue from the 1857-S Double eagles/ thus when coins are slabbed/ they come out as perfect MS/ without the "details"flaw "cleaned".
    John
     
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  4. Inspector43

    Inspector43 Celebrating 75 Years Active Collecting Supporter

    That will not happen with a dirty ancient.
     
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  5. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    not even close to ancient
     
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  6. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    The very gentlest way to deal with ancients is the soaking and (perhaps) using a toothbrush. Water seems to be the preferred soaking medium, some use distilled or deionized from the start, but I think tap water is fine and you can finish with distilled water. Also adding soap or detergent is quite common. Most ancients have been exposed to the elements for so long, extreme measures might be necessary, including prodding stuff off with a dental pick. It depends on the unclean ancients you start with. Oil generally takes longer and can darken your bronze coins.
     
  7. Inspector43

    Inspector43 Celebrating 75 Years Active Collecting Supporter

    You buy uncleaned ancient coins for the fun of cleaning them. For the fun of identifying and attributing them. You don't buy them to drive a collection because you never know what you have until you get it nearly cleaned. In many cases you can find similar coins already cleaned for the same or less money. Cleaning ancients is a hobby of its own. Learning where to find premium uncleaned coins and successful methods to clean them is rewarding.
     
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  8. Inspector43

    Inspector43 Celebrating 75 Years Active Collecting Supporter

    There are many threads on the Ancient forum discussing cleaning ancient coins. Try them.
     
  9. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    It really depends.

    Sodium hydroxide is my poison of choice. Other times I use sodium thiosulfate.
    For the haters who don't believe me:

    Septimius Severus Fourree Denarius RIC 63a.JPG
    IMG_E0948.JPG


    IMG_E9975.JPG
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    IMG_7876.JPG

    IMG_E7957.JPG

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    IMG_9418.jpeg 8B55D313-8513-451E-A378-6707AEC0ECA9.jpeg
    513C7EDB-4A54-42C5-8A34-F2A543DA8EE0.jpeg
     
  10. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    IMG_E7493.JPG
    IMG_E7728.JPG

    If these examples don't convince you, then nothing can.
     
  11. kountryken

    kountryken Well-Known Member

    Yes sir, I'm convinced, and have been impressed with your success restoring your coins. Thanks for posting.
     
  12. DonnaML

    DonnaML Well-Known Member

    Anyone interested in the great results that can be achieved by professional-level cleaning of ancient coins should also look at some of @galba68's posts with before and after photos of coins he's found in Europe by metal detecting.
     
  13. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    Galba has a "guy" who does the restorations for him. I don't know who his guy is, but he appears to be chemical-averse, and presumably uses mostly mechanical cleaning, which takes much more patience than I'll ever have
     
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  14. Victor_Clark

    Victor_Clark all my best friends are dead Romans Dealer

    before.JPG
    Maximinus_Antioch.JPG

    I managed to clean this one with sodium hydroxide,
     
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  15. hotwheelsearl

    hotwheelsearl Well-Known Member

    Based in the pics I thought this was a hydroxide treatment. It’s excellent for generic mineral encrustations
     
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  16. catadc

    catadc Well-Known Member

    There is a comprehensive guide here and the pdf is free: https://nobleromancoins.com/product_info.php?products_id=182

    The best method depends on the type of coins and the type of dirt on them. European dirt and Middle East dirt can clean differently, and same applies for bronze vs silver vs the higher copper content byzantines. Best is to get some poor quality uncleaned coins, practice and learn. It is inevitable that you will damage a few, so do not start with high value coins. And if you ever want to clean high value coins, see above - make sure they are of the type that you cleaned already.
     
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  17. GinoLR

    GinoLR Well-Known Member

    This is the work of one of my friends. Mostly mechanical cleaning... and a lot of patience !
    nettoyage.jpg
    (Not my coin)
     
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  18. Victor_Clark

    Victor_Clark all my best friends are dead Romans Dealer

    I made a typo, partly due to Jim Beam Apple, but I meant to say "without"
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2021
  19. Heliodromus

    Heliodromus Well-Known Member

    Silver coins are more forgiving in terms of chemical cleaning, but for bronze mechanical cleaning (with a scapel, or sharp pin, and stereo microscope) is the way to go. Bronze patinas are part of the coin, not something sitting on the surface, so any technique that removes patina is actually removing part of the coin, and is generally not going to end well.

    An expert cleaner/chemist will use a coin-specific combination of mechanical cleaning and various chemical approaches. Check out the work of "Georg5" from this German forum. The man has wizard-level skills!

    https://www.numismatikforum.de/viewtopic.php?f=89&t=62355
     
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  20. Kentucky

    Kentucky Supporter! Supporter

    https://www.cointalk.com/threads/before-after-iii.389869/

    Check out his latest coin...
     
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  21. galba68

    galba68 Well-Known Member

    JC, the first rule is that you must have patience...I bought a stereo microscope and gave up cleaning coins after a couple days..No patience at all!! Since then, a friend cleans coins for me that, he or I, think are worth cleaning..He has some rules..He does it ONLY mechanically under microscope..Sometimes, he kept coins in distilled water for a few days, but only if the dirt is hard, to soften it, and does not apply any chemical things..People in the past and now have tried to get good results in cleaning coins in quick and easy way, but when it comes to bronze coins, this way,how to clean my friend, is the best way..Here is good link..
    http://www.romanorum.com/docs/A Method for cleaning ancient coins. Romanorum.com.pdf
     
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