Horn silver treated with sodium thiosulfate reveals new details!

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by JayAg47, Dec 15, 2021.

  1. JayAg47

    JayAg47 Well-Known Member

    I have this intermediate tetradrachm in my collection for a few months now, I got this from Brian Bucklan for really cheap, thanks to the horn silvering.
    I did not try to remove the layer as I was scared of damaging the coin, But after my recent addition of a classical owl I decided to give it a try.
    So I soaked the coin in a warm solution of sodium thiosulfate for 30 min, and repeated it for 3 times with a bit of washing in between.
    This really got rid of most of the deposits, but left a lusterless darkened coin, and to correct this issue, I cleaned it with sodium bicarbonate which got rid of the darkness and also restored some shine.
    This is the before image,
    Athens Owl AR.jpg

    After image,
    Intermediate owl.png
    Intermediate tetradrachm
    Pi-style V
    c. 350 - 297 B.C.
    I'm really surprised to see the amount of details hidden under thick layers of horn silver, especially the tendrils on Athena's helmet (which really helped me attribute & date my otherwise generic tet), and also on the reverse the legends AΘE really popped up along with the detailed feathers on the owl's head and breast.
    Initial mass- 16.9g
    Final mass- 16.57g, nearly a hemiobol level loss in material, although I'm happy to trade it for the gain in details.
     
    Pellinore, PeteB, Andres2 and 15 others like this.
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  3. furryfrog02

    furryfrog02 Well-Known Member

    Holy cow! The detail that came out is great! Totally worth the loss in weight IMO.
     
    JayAg47 likes this.
  4. ambr0zie

    ambr0zie Dacian Taraboste

    Dramatic change.
    I have also experimented with sodium thiosulphate, but the only visible results were for coins with dark patches i.e.
    upload_2021-12-15_14-11-16.png

    upload_2021-12-15_14-15-10.png
     
    PeteB, Andres2, TIF and 8 others like this.
  5. AussieCollector

    AussieCollector Moderator Moderator

    Impressive results
     
    JayAg47 likes this.
  6. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

  7. kevin McGonigal

    kevin McGonigal Well-Known Member

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