Romulus, son of Maxentius, AE Follis. Rome mint, ca 309-310 AD, 6.0g, 23.0mm OBV: DIVO ROMVLO N V BIS CONS, Bare head right. REV: AETERNAE MEMORIAE, Domed shrine without columns, RBP in ex. REF: RIC 207 Rome, Cohen 6. I've had this coin for over a week now and even though I've taken my time treating it, progress seems to be going well so far. I soaked the coin in 2% Hydrogen Peroxide a couple of times for a couple hours. I scrubbed the coin with crest toothpaste, then boiled in distilled water and then let the coin soak in DW the rest of the time. I also picked at it with wooden toothpicks. I think it's promising so far. I know I already posted the coin but that was for the dealer photo and before treatment. But here is the old photo for reference.
Looks like you've basically eliminated the BD. I think it just needs some drying now, and keep your eye on it.
I'm going to leave it soak for awhile longer, maybe a couple weeks, changing the water everyday. Then I'm going to dry it and set it in a silver bullion case with a gel pack for a couple months then I may seal it.
I'm definitely going to bake the coin at around 300F, I think. I don't want to crack the coin, or run the risk of doing that.
It doesn't need to be that high. I go with 180 for about an hour. That's enough to evaporate any trace water on the surface and draw some out of the metal.
Yeah, I'll definitely go lower to be safer on the coin. I was initially thinking between 2-3 hundred.
Once, I heated a hopeless LRB with a torch. Gently... I thought. Several tiny blobs of molten silver burst forth like a popped pimples . Tin? Lead? Anyway, torch= bad. 200 degree oven = good.
Wow Daryl => I'm hoping that your new toothpaste-technique becomes the accepted platinum-standard!! (oh, and your BD-coin is lookin' very minty-fresh today!!) you rock, my coin-friend
Haha, but yeah I didn't use any mint toothpaste, just plain ole Crest paste. Might seem strange that I used toothpaste but it did remove a lot of the green stuff and cleaned the surface really well without removing the patina. Now it's just really long soaks from here on out until I get that silver bullion case and some gel packs. Then I'll bake the coin at that time, let it cool and then put inside case.
Yeah, I would trust verdicare more than toothpaste. Problem with using things like that is you do not know what else is in there, and the long term effects it may have. I use verdicare exclusively, with good results.
