I overscrubbed, so now I'll just leave it alone to soak up some distilled water. I'm embarassed and dissapointed in myself, however it's a learning experience. My mistake is someone else's teaching point, and that's something I truly believe. Day 3 takes up most of this video, and the last minute or so is a short check in on day 4. My disappointment is heavy, but now I can let someone else learn. Video is below. I'll make another video soon on another topic.
You haven't completely overdone it, but it's time to try other methods that don't require scrubbing. Check the last thread and you will see an alternative method that is quite good linked at the end of the thread. Time to try that....as you should not do more scrubbing. You definitely don't want the coin to get any shinier. The current color is acceptable... now you want to attack the actual corrosion without removing any more patina if you can help it. Here's a coin. Was probably stripped of the entire patina about 80 or 100 years ago and left bright yellow. They take a long time to color back up. It may take another hundred years before it is a nice chocolate brown. Not blaming the person that did this because the coin was probably suffering from some BD back in the day, and with the limited methods they had it was probably the best thing for the coin to have everything striped off at the time.
Happens all the time.. patience is a virtue...but it's hard (thus a virtue)! Do you plan on selling this coin or do you love it and want to keep it in your collection for life? I have a coin with terrible BD, I had to strip it down to save it or it would be lost forever. I saved it and I was so glad.. I love the coin and will never sell it. It's nothing fancy - but it's history. I added some Jax (fake patina) to make it look nice and it will sit in my collection until I go. Most here will not agree with my decision but I am very happy with the coin and I do not at all regret the decision (which can be easily reversed with a quick dip, of course). Would obviously not want to deceive anyone so this information is included with my coin's documentation. Here is the coin currently.. undergoing it's second bout of Bronze Disease. The first infection cause the frontal lobotomy and pitting.. now I am just dealing with some surface infection (I hope). The Jax really made the coin look quite nice with the dark background and amber highlights... but the struggle continues to save this historical coin. https://nobleromancoins.com/index.php?cPath=15&osCsid=ed93e0be19eaafba4f4f7b554bc64bbb I am sure I will get some flak for my decision here.. Que sera, sera
No flak from me . Repatination of bronze coins is sometimes part of the conservation process. Some dealers and auction houses are better at it than others.
If it was cleaned to bright yellow don't wait for it to tone to a nice rich chocolate brown, it shouldn't. That Claudian sestertius was struck on orichalcum, a brass type alloy as opposed to bronze. The color is supposed to be reminiscent of toned gold. They were the style for early imperial large bronzes. Before one starts to clean a coin, make sure you understand what it is made of so you can be clear about how it should look when you are done.
