I bought this Cleo coin some time back because of the historical importance of Cleopatra VII (Julius Caesar, Marc Antony etc.). As can be seen it is in quite poor condition but then coins bearing her portrait seldom come up for sale and if they have a better portrait, they would cost an arm and a leg. What base metal were these coins struck in? Would you attempt to clean the coin? How would you do that and would it perhaps produce a better portrait or will it not improve anything?
Someone has already stripped this coin down to bare metal. There are a few traces of patina left in the recesses along with one patch at 9:00 on the reverse, but other than this there is nothing left to clean.
Short of criminal tooling, I doubt there is much more to be done here. Too bad it's not nickel-copper, then vinegar dating would assuredly bring out a portrait, and definitely bring down the value
No, please don't clean this coin. It has a really nice patina. Cleaning will only destroy it. This type was more often poorly struck than well struck. No amount of cleaning will improve it. It's a nice example - please leave it alone. Cleopatra will be forever grateful.
If anything post it again in a few years and show us how it well it aged in your sock drawer. Nothing like toning to rescue an over-cleaned coin. Do you have any idea how many times it was cleaned since like 1540 AD or whenever it came back to light and people cared. The very fact that it is worn so much just is proof that in its day it was a coin that someone - many someones - carried for good luck or good memories of good times.
