OK, I bit and bought 10 "uncleaned" genuine,authenic,real,ancient,rare,and valuable Roman coins on the bay for $10. When they arrived I found that they were about the size of my pinkie fingernail. After convincing the wife that I had made the deal of the century, I proceeded to soak in distilled water to remove the centuries of crud. I can actually see traces of some type of images, all seem to have heads and the reverses are vague. One look kind of like an angel with wings. I don't really expect to uncover anything of value, this was for fun and variety. However, how long would I need to soak and will I ever reveal anything? This is sort of a science project with me to see if I might find a new interest in my coin collecting. If I were to really get the ancient "bug on a budget" where would I start? I think my interest would be either Roman, since my mother is Sicilian, or Greek, since I love their Mythology.
For coppers i have heard, but not tried, peroxide in microwave for 10-15-secs. 1 at a time, of course.
A friend who metal detects says this is the best way. Never tried it. Be reasonable. http://gometaldetecting.com/electrolysis_cleaning.htm Jim
The trick with cleaning these is to get the dirt off but leave the patina. If you want to be patient try soaking in olive oil for months (depending upon how cruddy they are) with a little wire brushing along the way. Soap and water also works. Now, if you want to get right to the business go for the tarnx soak and a wire brush. You'll have a nice shiny ancient coin in about a day. The reverse of your coin sounds like it could be "Victory". Here's an example from wildwinds.com (a great site to attribute your crusties)
Olive oil and then in the ultrasonic cleaner if needed I also use a fiberglass pen on some of the hard to move crud :thumb:
I picked up about 12 this summer and have been soaking them in olive oil and periodicly each week i'd take them out scrub them with an old tooth brush and put them in new oil. Semms to be working out pretty well a few are pretty much slugs but theres usually always a few that are interesting. If you decide to use a brush on them do make sure it is not stainless steel. This will rip the images apart a soft brass brush works well from my experience just take your time
sonlarson wheres is you avatar from? Ive seen one before a long time ago and havent been able to i.d.
Don't laught when you read this reply to the Avatar. I work for a major grocery chain. We used to have a coin master or coin star machine which had a magnet to catch non-US coins. When ever it got jamed I was the first to respond since it was a great sorce for World coins, which I collect. The company which provided the machine told me that they threw away all the "junk" coins and I was welcome to them. I found this coin one night and got real excited. I was unable to identify it so I did a web serch and found a dealer in ancient coins, I sent him a photo of the coin with a discription. Here is his reply. Sicily, Gela. Circa 480-470 BC. AR Tetradrachm (17.02 gm). Charioteer driving biga right, Nike above / CELAS, forepart of man-headed bull right. Jenkins 124 (O36/R75). Dear Mike! Your coin should depict a silver tetradrachm: Sicily, Gela. ca 450-440 BC. AR Tetradrachm. * Charioteer driving walking quadriga right, holding kentron in right hand, reins in both; Nike flying above crowning horse's, palmette with tendrils in exergue * forepart of man-headed bull right. Image: http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/sicily/gela/SNGANS_65.jpg You can see many coins of Gela at: http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/sicily/gela/t.html But unfortunately your coin is a modern cast-fake: The letters on the reverse read COPY. Best regards, Hannes. So you see, what I thought was the real thing was just a copy. Who cares, I had the fun and the excitement of trying to identify a "great" find. I have also found a 1946 1 Lira from Italy which is rare marked "facimile' on the front. All in all part of the fun in collectin World coins. Since I am often called "bull headed' I thought it was a fitting coin.
Well first off, thank you very much, I really looked all over tryen to figure out what it was after i saw it on an ad. Thats still a cool find
Had to scan, Wife took camera out of town.Has been soaking in distilled water for 2 weeks. I plan to give it a little more time, then I will try the olive oil.
