What would you do?

What would you do with this coin?


As you can see it has encrustations but also promising details and some silvering.

Worth paying to have cleaned? Considering I dont have the skills and experience to do so myself?

Thanks.

 

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That is a nice looking coin. I'm not sure the value of the coin would exceed that the cost of paying someone else to clean it would be though. From what I understand in my reading, and limited cleaning experience, what is under that green stuff tends to not be pretty.

 

I think it depends on your intent with the coin. If you intend to eventually get rid of it, then you must consider the cost effectiveness of having it cleaned. (perhaps someone on this forum who cleans ancients would volunteer for the challenge!?)

On the other hand, if you intend to "keep it forever", don't worry about the cost...it's for your enjoyment.

One thing is for certain, in that condition, it's not going to stop or get better on its own.

 

I'd start by giving it a simple week long soak in distilled water and a brushing to see what happens after that.

Edit: the green doesn't look terribly white and powdery, so it might just be literal patina and not bronze disease. Some mild manual work with bamboo skewer/toothpick (while still wet/moist from DW) might yield some results too.

 

I agree with Justin - a distilled water soak followed by toothbrush/toothpick work. Sometimes yields good results, though not always. I'm hoping some of the powdery green stuff might loosen and come off. Keep in mind that these Constantinian bronzes were made with poor quality metal for the most part, and don't stand up well to too much cleaning - nothing like the quality of orichalcum from the earlier Empire.

 

..some of the green looks to be BD(but it doesn't mean it is)...i'd douch it with Verdi-care if it was me..

 

Treat the green for BD, but sometimes green is just green...

I have a coin with green deposits that look just like BD, but is rock hard and have never spread, and don't react to Verdicare.

 

After soaking in DW and cleaning with a toothbrush and dish-washing soap, which should remove most of the dirt, you might try lightly scrubbing it with a brass bristle brush, which you can buy in just about any hardware or department store for a couple of dollars. Brass is softer than bronze and won't scratch the coin, but it might help remove a little bit of the green encrustation. (Disclaimer: it can scratch certain soft patinas, but the patina on your coin appears to be pretty stable.) But you don't want to remove all of the green because, as others have said, what's underneath it will be pretty rough.

 

On closer inspection the crust is removed quite easily and so far the surface seems ok underneath. Thanks

 

I will follow this advice thank you. Pictures to follow.

 

I have some sodium sesquicarbonate which I have not tested yet for now I will stick to DW water and brush.

My main objective is reduce the crust without touching the silvering too much.

Thanks

 

Thankyou to everyone for the advice.

I will add images through the process.

 

The brass brush mentioned above will not scratch the bronze (assuming it is good quality bronze), but I would think it might easily remove any remaining silver.

 

Verdicare overnight and a toothbrush

 

Isn't this about a $20 coin on a good day?

 

I challenge you @NormW to find this coin online for sale 20$.

 

@NormW you have my word I will pay you 20$ if you can find the same type with similar silvering alone not even for sale. Must be the same portrait with similar silvering and promising details. Good luck.

 

It appears there aren't many from the -CONST mint. This example sold for $151+BP, though the provenance could've increased it slightly. It is also from a different workshop (Q versus Γ, I can't find ΓCONST on ACSearch):

http://www.vauctions.com/ViewArchiveItem.asp?ID=5971

Some campgate types can be very common, and in lesser condition can certainly be had for the aforementioned $20.

Jim's appears to have some nice potential and is not very typical.

 

Thank's for the image!
After the DW soak I can use this image as a reference when removing the debris.

 

That is correct. I don't see any silvering remaining on the surface in the photo--on my monitor, it looks like dirt--but if there is some of the original silver wash left, then you should probably avoid using the brass bristle brush.

Wise decision. That stuff is nasty, and I would avoid using it. Even if your coin does turn out to have bronze disease--which I doubt--you can cure it much more safely with repeated distilled water soaks.