Does anybody have experience with cleaning ancient coins?

Not that I'm aware of. Certainly nothing as strong as, say, lemon juice. Plus, you're not soaking the coins in it. You just brush them with a toothbrush dipped in water and a little soap and then rinse them off.

 

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I agree @Kentucky - And sometimes there is no way to get near to being able to identify a coin without sacrificing some of the patina. Several times I have happily found that under one patina is another.

Here are a few of the coins that @Victor_Clark sent to me to work on. I am not finished working on these. But i wanted to take a break from cleaning Roman coins and work on Greek coins. I feel I am starting from square one because the designs or devices are so different.

VC #5






Below is what I believe is a Greek coin. It is not one of the coins I got from Victor. Of course I am nowhere near finished tidying up this coin but I can begin to see a right facing profile of a man in the far left side of what I believe is the obverse. There appears to be a legend running down the middle of that same side. All I can tell about the reverse so far is that there seems to be a triangular incuse in the center. I know I have seen coins with a similar obverse but I can’t locate the website or book where I saw them.



I love cleaning coins. I do not care if I only have ordinary coins. I am not praying to find a coin worth a gazillion dollars in a bunch of crusties. If I could I would have a collection like TIF or Zumbly or Bing, for instance, but that is not possible for me. I thoroughly enjoy these while I fatten my eye looking at the upper end coins owned and shared by others here. I am glad there is room for all of us to enjoy ancient coins in our own way.

 

I would be proud of any of those coins. I’d love to hear more about your cleaning methods. Very impressive.

 

Thanks @SeptimusT - I am still experimenting and there are still a half dozen ideas left on my “to try” list. I think I will be ready to post something in about a month if clients don’t keep interrupting me.

I also agree about Noble Roman Coins. I have gotten good crusties from them although they took almost a week to arrive. The price is right. So yes, get a few dozen crusties to start. See if you like it - If you have the patience for it.

There are many hours of work and strategic planning represented in the coins that I posted above.

 

I just ordered (cheap) this one and started soaking/brushing and started to uncover lots of silvering...I'm taking it easy with it.


Funny thing, was looking on e-bay under generic "Ancient Coins" and ran into what I think it is...Crispus RIC 113 (VII)

 

Do you have an idea how you want this coin to look when you're finished cleaning it @Kentucky ? Do you want to see all the black gone and expose all the silvering? I see some thicker parts of black especially on the reverse. I might not have wet this coin, but I'm not sure since I have not seen it up close and personal. I'm not always of the mind that a coin should be wet in order to be cleaned. Is that black stuff gummy? or is it powdery? or a combo? Is it like tar? slick like ice? rubbery?

 

It seemed moderately hard and chalky, and as it started thinning down, I started to see the silvering. Just looked back to e-bay to see the one I thought it was, but things move so swiftly, I can't find it... Oh well, pictures to follow sometime.

 

Enjoy! I think i'll go work on some coins for a while now.

p.s. Whenever you feel like it - I think it should stay there for a long time - you can always grab a picture of what you purchased from your ebay "purchases" list - you can save the photograph in that purchase to your pictures and always have it.

 

Dots on both top and bottom rows.. I'm not sure I've seen that before. What a sweet campgate. Nice cleaning job too.

 

They are out there if you look. I have had quite a few over the years. Below are a few.

 

Sweet coins Victor! Are these only issued for the Siscia mint?

 

a few mints have dots in the top row, but I don't recall seeing examples from any other mints with dots in the top and bottom