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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TIF, post: 2374711, member: 56859&quot;]When faced with what appears to be an applied patina (one that is soft rather than hard), I try to remove it in this order:</p><p><br /></p><p>1.&nbsp; Soak in water, wipe gently.&nbsp; If it doesn&#039;t come off, I try...</p><p>2.&nbsp; Rubbing alcohol soak, gentle wipe.&nbsp; If it still hasn&#039;t come off..</p><p>3.&nbsp; Pure acetone.&nbsp;&nbsp; If it still hasn&#039;t dissolved...</p><p>4.&nbsp; Mineral spirits.</p><p><br /></p><p>Soaking in any of these shouldn&#039;t harm the coin and I don&#039;t worry about the duration of the soak although usually it doesn&#039;t take more than several minutes.&nbsp; The coin should be fine even if left soaking for hours or days.&nbsp; If I soak in mineral spirits I subsequently soak in rubbing alcohol.&nbsp; Make sure the coins are thoroughly dried after any of these soaks.&nbsp; I usually apply Verdicare after removing fake patinas.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some fake sand patinas seem to be a mixture of light-colored fine sand mixed with superglue.&nbsp; I haven&#039;t had any of those and cannot advise you on how to remove it.&nbsp; I&#039;m not sure what dissolves cyanoacrylic glue but Google probably knows <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />.</p><p><br /></p><p>Alcohol has been very effective for me.&nbsp; If the fake patina is wax-based, you&#039;ll need mineral spirits.</p><p><br /></p><p>These fake light patinas do make the coin look good because it provides nice contrast between the fields and devices.&nbsp; I recommend removing such patinas though because you don&#039;t know what the substance is and whether it could cause or accelerate bronze disease.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some time ago I bought a large mixed lot of Roman Egyptian tetradrachms.&nbsp; Most of them had a fake patina which was probably women&#039;s makeup.&nbsp; I removed it with alcohol.&nbsp; The concern was what the makeup might be doing to the underlying metal.&nbsp; I think it was hastening formation of verdigris. Here&#039;s a before and after of one of the coins.&nbsp; You can see how the metal is green underneath the makeup:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cointalk.com/attachments/cng-numerian-e4022-3-3-obv-fakepatinabeforeafter-jpg.326628/" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>and the thread about it:&nbsp; <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-fun-new-lot-of-alexandrian-tetradrachms.245794/#post-1907156" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-fun-new-lot-of-alexandrian-tetradrachms.245794/#post-1907156">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-fun-new-lot-of-alexandrian-tetradrachms.245794/#post-1907156</a>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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