Uh oh! I cleaned a popular coin!

Was the Tribute Penny/Livia seated type only from Lugdunum, or were they struck in Rome as well?

 

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I wasn't patient enough for the 70/30 lemon juice/water solution after the first day. It sat in 100% pure lemon juice for nearly 72 hours. Being picked at with a tooth pick every 12 hours. It's finished now. This soil was stubborn; but I'm pleased with the end result.

Before


After


Geta, as Caesar, Denarius. 198 AD. P SEPTIMIVS GETA CAES, draped bust right / FELICITAS TEMPOR, Felicitas standing left left, holding cauduceus & cornucopiae

I'll probably end up retoning the reverse with some sulfur; as the lemon juice has made the surface a bright white.

-Michael

 

Good job!

 

Wow!

 

Great job on that Geta denarius!
The corrosion on the reverse was probably light enough that the mild citric acid sufficed to remove it.

 

Look at the X-like letter on the top right. You can see how it is slightly more more after the lemon-juice treatment. You have definitely improved the appearance of the coin, but there has been a trade-off.

Had you let the coin soak in lemon juice for a long time, I'm sure that it would have looked much worse. So yes, you can use lemon juice on copper coins, but you have to be very careful. In the case of your coin, it looks like you have used it properly. However, long-term soaks in lemon juice, (as opposed to, say, distilled water) are disastrous for bronze or copper coins.

 

wow you guys, some spectacular silver cleaning results.

 

35% hydrogen peroxide!!! Wow! First, where would you get it, second, if you do get it, don't get it on yourself. I worked with 30% H2O2 for a long time and have great respect for it (and a few spots on my skin that are still white from it).

 

Amazon sells it. People use it to sterilize things and for cleaning. It helps to soften some kinds of deposits. It will turn your skin white if you get it in yourself but it is not supposed to be that harmful.

 

I've been soaking in the standard first aid 3% and it's been helping. Slowly but surely. I'm guessing if it was the 35% it would be going much quicker.

 

I encourage you to try putting some on your skin.

 

From one of the sites hyping "35%" h2o2...

ONLY 17.5% FOOD GRADE H2O2 is available, as it can be ordered and shipped by ground UPS -- and only within the borders of the 48 contiguous US states labeled "Consumer Commodity" in accordance with DOT regulations. We will not ship internationally or outside the borders of the lower 48 states, nor by USPS.

OK

Even 17.5% could be vicious, 9% is what is used to bleach hair.

 

Great result! Just by the first set of photos I wouldn't have guessed the surface underneath all that gunk was that perfect.

 

That's a great cleaning job on that tribute penny. Congrats for sure, my friend.

I recently cleaned a Roman Imperatorial coin of Marcus Antonius. It came out fine but the coin is still low grade.






Roman Republic, Marcus Antonius (32-31 BC) AR Legionary Denarius

Obverse: ANT AVG III VIR R P C, Praetorian galley rowing right, scepter tied with fillet on deck above.

Reverse: LEG XIV, Aquila standard and two legionary standards.

Reference: RSC 44; Cr 544/29; Syd 1234

Ex: Kayser-i Rum Numismatics

The first photo is before, the second photo is after cleaning. I am not cleaning the coin any further because the reverse legend and devices are low relief and I don't want to damage them more. The coin also has scratches that were there under the black patina.

 

I agree it came out looking fine! Great job Gil and good to see you again! If you don't mind me asking what did you use? Lemon juice?

 

I got some distilled water in one cup and another with the same and a small amount of dawn dish soap. The water was as hot as I could stand it so that it could break up the dirt better. Wash in the soapy one and then rinse in the other. I used a toothpick and a safety pin to remove some of the tougher stuff. I also was using Q-Tips.

I also have a hand blower to blow the dirt off of the coin when I'm working on it. Either continuous or short bursts. This helps with impacted dirt, working on delicate coins where you can't use water. Treating BD coins to get the moisture out, is a alternative to baking the coin.

 

One thing I thought I'd mention is about my blower, you will see it is a Metro DataVac blower. Yeah, that company makes vacuums but this is not a vacuum. It comes with a micro cleaning tool. I find it very useful.

 

Good to know, thanks!

 

Just flashed on something...two chemicals mentioned here, 35% H2O2 and acetone, mixed will make an explosive strong enough to seriously damage you...be careful.

 

Through reaction or still needs ignition?