Hi All, I'm a newbie to Ancients, and wanted to try this method I read about on a coin worth a buck or two before cleaning, to see if I could potentially increase its value 'slightly'. How am I doing so far?
Welcome 0709, The cleaning looks good, as for myself i would have left that awesome green patina on that coin, jmo..
looks like you gain some details. are you doing any mechanical cleaning (brush or picking at it?) or just soaking?
I think it looks better too. Remember, there was no "green" on the coin the day it was minted. And I use ordinary vaseline, not olive oil.
I prefer to preserve the patina where I can, green brown or whatever. In this case, I believe the patina is still intact, it's just taken on a different hue from the oil.
I agree. Olive oil is noted for darkening a coin. I never really "got" why olive oil is used to clean coins. Yes, it was available 100 years ago. Yes, its a very mild acid so it works slowly, giving people enough time to avoid catastrophes. However, it will darken coins every time. I prefer to start with distilled water, changed frequently, and light brushings myself.
It looks like the coin just sat in the olive oil darkening the patina. The 'splotches' are still there. It really comes down to personal preference on the colour of the patina. I think the darkened green patina added a little something to the coin and now displays better definition of the letters. It is hard to judge a bit because as you can see his picture taking abilities have also improved as well!
looks pretty good to me, just remember that olive oil (especialy virgin) is mildly acidic. For this reason my forays into ancient cleaning have used mineral oil with some good results. You might also consider a treatment with "verdicare" it may turn the green black but it will kill off any verdigris and keep it from getting any worse.
It could have. One of the things different about ancients Jolumnga is our patina can get "thick", meaning the patina sometimes makes it harder to see coin details. Since ancient collectors are free to "play" with our coins, sometimes some patina needs to be thinned out for the coin to display better. I simply do not know, from the photos, whether this patina thinned out or just changed colors. Both could explain a nicer photographing coin.
This green 'patina' is typical of hoard deposit. It collects in clumps because the copper oxides leach onto other coins rather than the surrounding soil. This makes the coins less attractive and in most cases illegible, certainly not the nice thin green patina associated with single find coins. I think that the coin will eventually be perfect when all the green has been removed. I know we all like our patinas different.......nice job though and a very interesting experiment in my opinion. You have the patience of a saint.
