Father And Son Jumping Into Ancient Coins!

Thank you to everyone that has responded. I have been reading and re-reading the responses and sitting on my thoughts, doing my best to absorb all the information and hopefully learn from the experiences that everyone shared.


> it just must say something about me that I am only happy with the best examples of them.

I can definitely understand that. After reading the book and initially looking at the pictures I probably over-estimated what sort of coins I would get with these uncleaned lots. Now really thinking about it, I realized I have no frame of reference if I got a great deal, standard deal or more of a crappy deal.

I didn't start documenting the coins the moment I got them, but I figure now's as good a time as any to start, while we are still working on the first batch.

The 20 coins we got from Amazon.com were divided into those coins that we thought we saw detail (11 coins) and those that we couldn't make anything out. After we cleaned the "detail visible" coins for a 3rd time (gentle nylon brush) I took pictures of them. The first few seem to me to be of better quality, but most - to my untrained eye - don't appear to be anything I would show off to anyone, as if there is little "wow" factor and more of a "that's it?" factor, if you know what I mean. We haven't really had a chance to do anything with the 2nd batch, We didn't receive the 3rd or 4th batch yet. Depending on what the consensus is of these 11 coins will help me understand what my expectations should be. My first thought was "wow these coins are small..."

This is the first time I setup my camera with my microscope, so sorry if the light is off or if there is something else I should have done differently. I don't mind if anyone can ID any of these



coin 1



no idea, but the letters are worn off, not sure how to ID, I tried to start with the back, looking through VOT legends with wreaths via tesorillo.com, I'm failing miserably :)







coin 2
hoping I can read the letters sometime soon








coin 3
Looks like a woman's head, I think it looks very similar to the coin pictured right under "Forgery Touch-up Work" at http://www.calgarycoin.com/referenc.../tooling.htm









coin 4
no idea








coin 5

no idea, can see some of the head, but it seems the surface of the coin was eaten away







coin 6
I'm not sure if this coin has crud on it or if its a slug with no surface detail anymore










coin 7

slug?









coin 8
Is this the Verdigris that mdpmedia mentioned?








coin 9
I think I got the front and back right, just not sure what's up or down








coin 10

not sure what to make of this one - almost seems like a fragment of something bigger









coin 11

not really sure if this is a slug










so with the various solvents, let me make sure I understand this -

1. Distilled water is the safest

2. Olive Oil might clean crude faster, but its more acidic and might start pitting the coin if left in the oil for too long (or in the case of Olive Oil that has gone rancid, it will be much more acidic)

3. Hydrogen Peroxide dissolves calcium and helps remove crud. Do a overnight soak, rinse off and do another 24 hour soak, then put in Distilled water or olive oil.
-How can I tell the crud has calcium? A white color?
-Is there any hidden dangers to the coin from soaking in hydrogen peroxide (as was noted about rancid or too acidic olive oil?)
-If there is no hidden danger would a Hydrogen peroxide soak be a first good move?

4. Xylol/Xylene is a good solvent to try first for organic, non-polar residues.
-Same question regarding any hidden dangers or gotchas. I actually have Xylene, I use it to clean oils off optics, and I seem to recall you don't want to get it on plastics, I seem to recall also hearing that about Acetone.
-How could one identify if crud or dirt is an organic, non-polar residue?

5. Acetone is a good final option if all other solvents fail, because it exhibits both polar and non-polar characteristics.
-Same question regarding any hidden dangers or gotchas.

Thank you everyone once again for your time and insight.

Mike

Where you able to get a copy of ERIC I, it's would be very helpful. It's not as current as ERIC II but it's free. http://www.dirtyoldbooks.com/eric.html

> Where you able to get a copy of ERIC I, it's would be very helpful. It's not as current as ERIC II but it's free. http://www.dirtyoldbooks.com/eric.html

Thank you for that! I looked over ERIC I and proceeded to purchase ERIC II!

would any of you continue cleaning the coins at this point? I feel there is potential value in cleaning the first 4 coins, I don't know about the rest.

Echizento, that pentanummium is one I found on Google to illustrate the type. His is in much rougher shape, and IMO probably doesn't have anything else to salvage under all that corrosion.

A lot of these don't have much hope, unfortunately.

Coins 1-3 probably have the most promise. I would spot clean 1 and 2 where the dirt is covering up the devices, and the Helena probably needs a peroxide bath to take off that thick layer. After the dirt has been thinned out, I would probably scrub gently with a toothbrush, then rub gently with your fingers to see if you can get a nice contrast between the fields and devices. That will probably be the most attractive thing for your coin.

Coin 4 can he cleaned some, but I honestly fell like it was heavily circulated before being buried, so there is not likely much beneath the dirt.

Coin 5 the patina is thick enough to hold all of the design. It's starting to flake off and will only get worse with cleaning. It's a cull.

Coin 6 is a goner. Except for that E, there is nothing left of what it used to be.

7-9 are slugs

10 looks like it's already been cleaned

Honestly can't tell with coin 11. I would give it a peroxide bath... Can't get much worse than it already is!

>A lot of these don't have much hope, unfortunately.

Thank you for confirming what I was thinking. I took coins 4-11 and am giving them a h2o2 bath for 30+ hours to see what happens - I sort of wanted to try the "goners" first to see if the peroxide bath has any unwanted side-effects, or noticeable positive effects first hand. Maybe later today I will work on the other coins from the first batch that I didn't have much hope for and the 2nd batch of coins - I'll post the pics of anything I think might be worth sharing

Hydrogen peroxide it´s a very dangerous product...
Be careful!