Is This Chou Dynasty Ant Nose real?

Ok, so in light of the last statement, I stuck a toothpick into the hole. It is indeed powder. What do I do now?

 

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Well, someone who knows more about Chinese coinage should tell you if they think that’s BD or not. I don’t want to give you erroneous advice or lead you to damage your coin. But if it is, removing it with a toothpick or pin (extremely carefully with that later one) and soaking it in distilled water for a couple weeks, followed by quick drying with heat (blow dryer or something) usually works. Other than removing some green gunk, that process usually stops it and doesn’t affect the coin at all otherwise.

 

For any kind of copper crud, whether you want to call it BD or whatever, VerdiCare is a solution that, as far as I know, has no downside.

 

I would leave it alone. Its not BD. With this type of corrosion you could end up dislodging large chunks of the coin or patina. A dealer friend of mine once bought a magnificent sestertius with emerald green patina, but with was soft and chipping away at the edges. After a year in his boxes and being jostled about the country in luggage the edges chipped away quite significantly, thus losing about 90% of its value. There is not easy answer to this problem except to leave it be and dont over-handle it. I am sure there are ways of stabilizing it but I dont know, I dont clean coins or repair them.

 

I honestly thought VerdiCare was a way of stabilizing it...perhaps @BadThad can elucidate.

 

I dont know. VerdiCare is something new to me. Until I joined CT I had never heard of it.

 

Thad is a chemist like me, and he allowed me to read his early copy of a book he is writing on Verdigris and he works for a metals fluids company and developed this as a collector who loves coins. It appears to be good stuff and the worst I have seen anyone on here say is that they don't think it does anything. Others have been more appreciative.