Cleaning my first ancient coin: surfaces question

Thank you, Silverlock! I appreciated your comments and particularly appreciate your five basic principles.

 

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Great questions.

Sodium hydroxide is also known as Lye. You want the stuff that says "crystals of 100% household lye" or something like that. Here in my neck of the woods, Home Depot and Lowe's don't have it; you need to go to Ace or one of those more speciality shops to find it.

Can also find on ebay, search "lye."

You just mix it with water. It gets VERY HOT, and will let of fumes that make your throat hurt, so best to do it outside. It won't blow up but it will make the cup/container very hot. Best to use a glass jar; I have an old pickle jar that works for me.
I sort of eyeball it, I often put maybe 2 tbsp per 8 ounces, more or less, i just sort of shake it into the jar and put some water in.

Best practice is to neutralize it when done - I pour in a bunch of vinegar to neutralize the base, and then dump it down the sink.

Be careful, it will cause chemical burns pretty readily.

I've never had great results with electrolysis; then again I have no idea if I did it right. I fine lye much simpler and more effective.

Good luck!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/141521053137?hash=item20f34fe5d1:g:B6IAAOSwNSxVHtSu

This is the brand that I use.

 

Here's another fun example.



This took consecutive treatments of sodium hydroxide, acetic acid, citric acid, sodium thiosulfate, and some good ole Tarn-X silver cleaner.


Miracles CAN happen, just don't count on it.

 

Ah-ha! Thanks to your description, I was able to locate a store near me that sells it. I will pick it up first thing tomorrow morning.

I was wondering if it's ok to use a very small jar with the lye, water, and coin. I don't want to waste anything or pour huge amounts of whatever down the drain. I have a small jar that is about 1.5 inches high and about 1.2 inches in diameter. Do you think it's ok to use that, or do I need a much larger container?

 

This will ruin coins (and maybe you) ... please think again.

 

Thank you, Clavdivs! I appreciate that you care--both about me and my coins.

I was intending to try this on only one coin first. Part of my problem is that all the coins I bought from this dealer are--as far as I can see being a newbie--in extremely low grade to the point of being poor in ordinary parlance, or maybe "good" in numismatic talk. They are also extremely heavily encrusted and all appear to be corroded. I don't think the world will miss them. That said, it frustrates me that I am essentially almost flying blind. I wish I could attend a full class on coin cleaning.

Having said all that, I do really appreciate everyone's advice here, and without them I would be flying absolutely blind in this new activity that might become a new interest for me, or might not.

 

Best of luck! Please be careful with the chemicals mentioned here.. my post was not meant to upset anyone here - but in the hope that you think twice. The world is a better place with encrusted coins than it is without....

Rough original from my hometown....

 

No worries! You didn't upset me at all. To the extent that I'm upset, it's only with myself for not being more knowledgeable about how to clean coins. ;-)

 

I think the myriad examples I have posted really speak for themselves here.

 

Clavdivs may have a philosophical position against using lye on coins, but I think he was more worried that I as a total newbie might cause harm to myself or to my coins. I don't think he was directing any particular sentiments your way.