How to make a darkened ancient silver coin a bit brighter?

Yes, I agree with everyone above. Leave it as-is even if it's darker than in the photo. There are plenty of sparkle bright Hadrians out there.... it's almost rarer to find one in a natural state. Sell it to me and buy a bright shiny one.

 

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This is a nice coin with an excellent style portrait struck from fresh dies on both sides. I would definitely discourage anything that removes or even alters the toning. The most I would do with this would be to use a little dish soap and water with a soft cloth. This will not remove natural toning, but it might remove dirt and improve the surface appearance. As benign as this approach may seem, try it with a Q-tip on the edge first.

 

Alright, good news guys.

After an acetone bath and some very slight rubbing between fingers over warm running tap water (no baking soda needed) I was able to get what appeared to be dirt off the coin.
I can tell it was dirt because when I used a cloth to dry the coin, there was black/dark residue on the cloth.

Now the coin still has the very old in the ground toning (hard to see from photos) but the bust of Hadrian is a bit more clearer now as well as the legends that had dirt deposits stuck on them.

I'm very happy with the results, thank you so much for the help and advice!!!

 

First,Do No Harm. First, it looks excellent the way you recieved it. Too many have been "touched up". Also, in case is was restored at some time in the past you might end up with unseen cleaning. Bright and shinny might not a good look for the coin. Just my opinion.