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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;LaCointessa, post: 2889520, member: 87186&quot;]Good morning [USER=88628]@CopperGenie[/USER].</p><p><br /></p><p>Before even deciding to clean a coin, I want to spend some time with it. Really looking closely at it. And sometimes photographing it as you have done here allows a good look at it. Sometimes, though, holding the coin away and not seeing it closely gives a better chance to get an idea about possible attribution.</p><p><br /></p><p>Have you tried to figure out the attribution of this coin yet? if you haven&#039;t, you might check here: <a href="https://www.tesorillo.com/aes/110/110i.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.tesorillo.com/aes/110/110i.htm" rel="nofollow">https://www.tesorillo.com/aes/110/110i.htm</a></p><p>I love this coin already. I&#039;ve never seen it before. It looks like a double victory but I&#039;ve never seen a double victory with a VOT before. (but i&#039;m a newby so there&#039;s still TONS of reverses I have not seen). The legend on the obverse says IMP CONSTANTINUS PP AVG. And I think it is Constantinus I Magnus (but I am not absolutely positive as I just took a peek).</p><p><br /></p><p>I think your coin is not in horrible condition. It is just crusty and dirty. I say go very slowly. If you are in a rush to clean it, you are the not the person to do the job. (sorry!) (No. Not sorry!) This is a wonderful coin that has great potential I think.</p><p><br /></p><p>If you had to begin to clean it, then it would be a child&#039;s first toothbrush dry on the dry coin with the lightest stroke - and stroke in one direction from the interior of the coin outward and let the stroke carry off the edge of the coin. I like to hold the coin perpendicular to the floor so that whatever loosens from the surface of the coin has a chance to fall away and not rest on it. I like to put a piece of white paper underneath to see what I &#039;catch.&#039;&nbsp;&nbsp; After the first brushing I would study it again before deciding my next step. There really can not be (in my humble opinion) any automatic, rote one-size-fits-all procedure in ancient coin cleaning because each coin is an individual case different from the next in some respect. Each should be treated according to what it requires. After a light brushing then perhaps - PERHAPS - with this coin I would put on my magnifying eye glasses and take my professional scalpel with a brand new blade and in the tiniest area where the soil is most thickly caked on see if I can begin to loosen the top crusty soil from the coin without touching the surface of the coin. This is delicate work - like surgery. Sometimes my hand is so tense it will tremble and I have to stop and relax. I have an array of tools, mostly home made, like the bamboo skewer that has one end frayed by cutting it with the scalpel a bunch of times and another I ran across a food grater to roughen it up. Those are handy tools for getting in small places. I have made those same types of tools with slimmer wooden objects. Whatever I can find that looks like it will work. I have a couple of chop sticks as well. </p><p><br /></p><p>And this is why getting the attribution of your coin done as early as possible is so useful. You will have a photograph of your attributed coin&#039; at your side as you clean your coin and you&#039;ll know what to expect to find and where on your coin as you work on it.</p><p><br /></p><p>[USER=85702]@Nas[/USER] is not incorrect about soap and water, but I say very rarely and maybe after all the crust is removed - maybe. If you go under your soil crust and find a layer of tar substance, i think you will regret having wet it at this point. </p><p><br /></p><p>By the way, there are ways to restore a patina. I want to become proficient in that at some point.</p><p><br /></p><p>I hope this helped.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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