I just wanted all you Ancient collectors' thoughts on the best way to clean a Roman coin that is crusted over. I have a very nice Sesterius with half the portrait clearly visible on front, but there is a pea sized spot of built up corrosion on the head. I also have several other As size coins that I have been soaking in distilled water that after one month look no better. Any thoughts? Electrosis?
The majority of my Roman coins I found using a metal detector in Europe. My oldest was a silver from 49 B.C.(sold) In order to identify the coins, I must first remove all the centuries of built up "crud". Suprisingly, I have found a few bronze coins that looked like they were freshly minted, requiring hardly any cleaning. At least I can be assured my coins are not "fakes" since I personally dug them up
Too right,Giladzuc,you shouldn't clean an ancient coin unless you take it to someone who is an expert in cleaning such coins.
Try a soak in oil. That might help loosen up some of the encrustations. I do not recommend electrolysis unless a piece is completely encrusted with nothing showing, which is rarely the case.
I bought several Hundered out of a dig in Croatia or the Balkens. Through a dealer in England. All were uncleaned and I had great luck putting them in a pan of olive on the stove and heating them up ,lettimg them cool and repeating the process. It cleaned the crud and left there nice patina intact. Experiment with some lesser or damaged coins though fisrt. Oh and don't slide them around the pan.
Thanks all for the suggestions. I have tried the Olive oil, the only bad thing about that is that it tends to darken the patina. I have not tried it using heating though - I will give that a shot. How about using a steel brush?? Just kidding. I have one very interesting one that I am cleaning up slowly over time. It has a chariot with horses on the back and a yet unknown portrait on front. I will try to post a pic of it on here this weekend.
