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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;gsimonel, post: 2777609, member: 82549&quot;]The coin is already clean. There is no caked-on dirt or encrustation. The problem is that you don&#039;t like the patina. It&#039;s very thick and probably obscuring some additional detail. So your only real option is to remove the patina.</p><p><br /></p><p>Just about everyone in this forum will implore you to NOT remove the patina. They are probably correct, but my response is more nuanced: how devastated would you be if you ruined the coin? I think there&#039;s a good chance that you will improve the appearance of the coin a little if you used electrolysis to remove the patina and stripped the coin down to bare metal. But be aware of a few caveats: 1) you will end up with a bright, shiny coin that many collectors will find unattractive. (However, the coin will darken over time; be patient and resist the temptation to apply an artificial patina.); 2) the surface will be rougher, with a lot of teeny-tiny bumps and pits.</p><p><br /></p><p>I have used electrolysis to clean hundreds of coins over the years. It&#039;s rare, but not impossible, to ruin a coin by doing this. It&#039;s common, however, to uncover surface problems that were obscured by the patina. Based on my experience and the type of patina on your coin, I think that electrolysis would probably improve the obverse appearance and reveal a little more detail. I don&#039;t think it would do much for the reverse and probably leave it looking rougher and more pitted. Just keep in mind, however, that there is a very small, but non-zero chance that you will uncover something horrible when you remove the patina. It has happened to me, which is why I never use electrolysis on a coin that I absolutely could not bear to lose.</p><p><br /></p><p>Let the hate mail begin . . .[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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