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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DonnaML, post: 4466912, member: 110350&quot;][USER=33176]@Kentucky[/USER], when I started reading this thread, and then found and read some older threads about this subject, I started to get a little concerned that a Claudius bronze as I had recently purchased -- but had not yet arrived, so all I had was the seller&#039;s photos -- might be afflicted with bronze disease.&nbsp; Here is the coin:</p><p><br /></p><p>Claudius I AE As, AD 42, Rome Mint. Obv. Bare head left, TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP P P / Rev. Libertas standing facing, head right, holding pileus in right hand, left hand extended, LIBERTAS AVGVSTA / S - C. RIC I 113, Sear RCV I 1860, BMCRE 202. 31.62 mm., 11.18 g.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1112233[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>From the photos, there seemed to be areas on both the obverse (around Claudius&#039;s ear and the back of his neck, and in the right field) and the reverse (around Libertas&#039;s lower legs and in the lower part of the right field) with raised and/or grainy green deposits that might fit the descriptions I&#039;ve read of bronze disease, and looked different to me from the normal green patina on a bronze coin.&nbsp; Of course, I couldn&#039;t tell just from the photos whether those deposits were soft and powdery or flaky.&nbsp; And I have very little experience with bronze Roman coins from this time-period in the first place. So I emailed the seller (a reputable seller whose name would be familiar to many of you), and this was his response:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Bronze disease is something that is horrible when encountered, but of the 100,000 plus coins I have handled in 25+ years, I have really only seen a handful of coins with real bronze disease. This is largely due to the fact that I don&#039;t ever buy a coin that has been tainted, and if one comes in a collection it is immediately isolated and dealt with.</p><p><br /></p><p>The answer to the Claudius is no, it has hard green verdigris. Bronze disease is actually an active chloride that is eating away the metal and is always found in a pit on the coin...because it ate the metal away. If left untreated, it will actually destroy the entire coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>A good friend, who is also a chemist, taught me how to neutralize it, but even then, any coin I cure goes into isolation in a dated envelope in a wooden box on the shelf in my closet for 5 years...if it is truly cured, I will now by then. The 20 or so coins I have done this to have all been cured 100%.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>This response did reassure me, and when the coin arrived, what the seller said proved to be accurate: everything I was concerned about is hard; there&#039;s nothing powdery or flaky, and nothing came off when I gently prodded the surface.&nbsp; And you can&#039;t see any of the grainy areas without magnification anyway. So, as long as everyone&#039;s correct that verdigris in and of itself isn&#039;t dangerous if it&#039;s solid and not powdery, this is a happy ending, I think,[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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