Ancient Coin - Is There Any Help For This Coin?

It's not in great shape, but you may be able to ID it. If it is a thicker coin I think it could be an Alexandrian tetradrachm with an eagle standing left of the reverse. It looks as if the Greek word for "year" might be on the left side of the reverse.

It could be something like this:

http://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/mon...Default.aspx

I do think any attempt at cleaning will really destroy the coins details, those that are left.

Interesting, that eagle reverse was mentioned. Eagle Rev
was written on the envelope it was in.

But I was thinking I see a person holding a spear in right hand and a shield in left.

Zapping it would be a very hasty thing to do. I really don't like the idea at all.
The coin may have some type of oil or 'preservative' on it (based on its dark color).
You might try soaking it first in acetone or alcohol to remove any surface material.
Once it is cleaned off ...... If you still want to be 'aggressive' you might try a bath in ammonia.
Keep a close eye on it and try not to touch the surface. The green 'stuff' should begin dissolving quickly. After ten minutes rinse and dry and decide whether to proceed. The ammonia should turn blue green and will indicate the progress being made so change it each time you repeat. Remember though that what is done is done and with rare exeptions cannot be undone !

The coin is not extremely valuable but I advise you to proceed with caution. It took 17 centuries for the coin to get where it is today. Being hasty about conservation is risky.

Everyone is seeing the eagle ... So it must be one.

I can see what your all seeing ... After looking at Vcoins some more.

The coin is at home .. I will see if I can do anything with it his afternoon.

Sitting at a LCS right now ....looking at more ancients.

Not too bad really. A tad overdone on the obverse but we certainly can see it quite a bit better.
Legend is still obscure to me (Greek never was for me) but it is certainly an Alexandrian 'tet' of the later 3rd century. Based on the portrait (difficult at best) it looks to be either Aurelian or Probus. But that is merely a guess on my part.
Restrain yourself from doing anymore cleaning for now. The coin is pretty good.

One trick that may help is to take a piece of paper (not heavy weight paper but something like notebook paper), lay it over the coin, and shade the paper with a pencil. You may be able to see some of the letters more clearly in the impression than on the coin itself.

I know now ... I cleaned it the wrong way

I soaked it in ammonia a few times ...then scrubbed it with a
brass brush. I was thinking I really wanted to get the green off.

Now I understand, try to get the green off but leave the patina.

I did buy this one cheap, knowing I was going to use it for my first attempt
at cleaning/restore.

My wife last night found a picture of a Probus, that looked a lot like this one.
In hand some of the letters can be seen better.