bronze-silvered diocletian (value?)

Flea market find, paid $10...
Not In My wheelhouse
Did I get took to the cleaners???
My apologies 4 the so, so photo-s
I'm woyking

 

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Looks like it could be cleaned further, but dunno. If not, its about what you paid for it, or a bit less.

 

I don't think you wasted your money. The $10 is about right I think.

 

What method would u recommend for cleaning??????? I'm more of a Morgan guy

 

Looks OK to me and worth about what you paid for it..... and maybe a bit more if it is not environmentally damaged...

The best way to 'clean' ancients is to simply soak in water (or even boil for a bit) and then soak again for several days and dry clean with a soft or coarse cloth to remove ONLY the dirt and NOT the patina---which all of us consider highly desireable.

 

Use distilled water or de-mineralised water rather than tap/faucet water. If you have an old toothbrush lying around, cut the bristles to half length. Soak/brush. Change the water when it gets cloudy. Report back.

 

So, acetone is out of the question then?
I don't have any fancy water lying about....

 

Acetone will get rid of grease and other organics. If you can't get DW, go to a local garage and get the stuff that you use for topping up car batteries. The theory behind using DW is that minerals will leach out of the coin and into the water (hence, change it when it becomes cloudy), eventually making it easier to remove the crud. The crud for each coin will be different depending where it has been for the last 1700 plus years.

Just put it in a tub, cover with "fancy" water, leave on the side somewhere. When you go past it, just give it a shake and put it back. Every couple of days, get the toothbrush out and give it a brush. Put it back in the tub, change the water if necessary, continue until you are satisfied with the results. Post said results here.

 

Distilled water is a buck a gallon at any grocery store in the US... Easier to get than Acetone.

 

If you use acetone on coins, get 100% acetone. Don't use nail polish remover.

 

Depending on where you live, the advantage of distilled water may vary. If your water is from a stream, it may be soft and would work. If you have a deep well into limestone, distilled would speed things up a lot. Considering the price of a gallon at Wal-Mart and the fact that it lasts forever, I'd say buy a jug. It is not necessary to spend extra for reagent grade chemicals when washing coins but some tap water has as many minerals in it as you coin has now.

 

Well,the reason I don't have any (fancy) water lying about, is, I don't want to make a big production(or full-time job) out of conserving coins. A week soak in acetone is the longest I've ever spent. The whole tooth brush method is a huge NO NO with classics and more modern type coins.... I know you guys are just trying to help a noob out, and I trust and appreciate the advice given. Next wally-world trip I'll grab some fancy-smamcy water

 

BTW, the only way I knew how-to ID this coin was, due to the fact it came in a Littleton 2x2 with info on it....
Are these generally decent coins? Or are ALL Littleton coins considered junk to you ancient collectors????
New-Photos

 

just buy some automobile battery top up water

 

Heck, you don't need much. You can just make your own distilled water at home. It'll only take a short while to collect enough condensate to give your coin a nice bath.

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Distilled-Water

 

this coin is nice under the crud. acetone will work to remove and loosen the dirt.

 

I see why they say ancient collectors are a whole different animal.... Your reputation is bequeathing.... (Kneels down)
Oh smaug, the great and treacherous....

 

Take the rule book for modern coins and chuck it out of the window. You don't need it for ancients, a completely different animal. All ancients have been cleaned in ways that would make modern coin collectors gibbering idiots.

Just please, PLEASE, do not try electrolysis on ancient coins.

We can talk you through cleaning, here are my diocletians
http://www.tantaluscoins.com/browse.php?type=0&uname=pishpash&qs=diocletian&sbt=0&sbc=0&go=Search

 

Littleton coins in my experience were genuine, average to low eye appeal and horridly overpriced. I have absolutely no problem with coins that are not in the top .001% grade-wise and have many worse. What hurts is someone once paid $19.95 for a coin then worth $1.95. New collectors sometimes come equipped with the desire to have only the best and are willing to pay for it. That is OK. Someday when they tire of their coins, someone will buy them. People who came to the hobby after being told that all ancients are rare museum worthy pieces worth fabulous amounts simply because of their age will not fare so well in a cash sense and may get the idea that all ancient sellers are crooks. Every so often here we discuss a seller who sells average, genuine coins for only ten times what they would bring in the highest quality glossy catalog sale run by the finest auction houses. He is not a fake selling crook; he just allows people the opportunity to pay him a bit of a premium over exorbitant.

A dealer friend of mine had a box of loose, unidentified ancients at his show booth at $2 each. He had other boxes at other prices mostly for the 'I just want an old coin' crowd. He was amazed when a guy came up and bought the whole $2 box at full price without haggling. He was selling culls to non collectors and was running low on stock. When you get $20 for a coin, it makes sense to pay $2 rather than miss a sale. Is this good for the hobby? It is not illegal.

My Diocletian below was $16. I considered it a good deal. I don't have one exactly like yours but I'm glad you did not pay more. Will yours look like this when finished with the water? These are chances we take.

 

why are you cleaning it? ... it already rocks!!