Cleaning Ancient Coins Question - Coin Community Forum

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Author	Replies: 7 / Views: 741
Cissy18 Valued Member United States 51 Posts	Posted 06/29/2025 12:20 am Learning how to clean ancient coins. Did I go too far on this Constantinopolis nummus? Or is it just an esthetic/ personal preference kind of thing? Report this Post to the Staff

louisvillekyshop CCF Advertiser United States 1303 Posts	Posted 06/29/2025 12:41 am You did not hurt the coin. And you might enjoy it more this way. If cleaning gives you more details you did not see before, it is worth it. In this case, I don't think any details that were not visible before have been added and the contrast you had before is now gone, so folks might like the the old way as well as that was visually interesting. Again, no harm was done either way, Report this Post to the Staff
cointagous Pillar of the Community United States 1143 Posts	Posted 06/29/2025 12:54 am What process did you use to clean it? Report this Post to the Staff
Cissy18 Valued Member United States 51 Posts	Posted 06/29/2025 01:17 am Soaked in vinegar & salt for an hour, neutralized, rinsed with distilled water. Scraped with a scalpel and sewing needle. The first photo was after the 1st scraping. Took about 6 rounds of scrapings to get it to the second photo. Report this Post to the Staff
Cissy18 Valued Member United States 51 Posts	Posted 06/29/2025 02:48 am This is the reverse. Tough to clean the tiny areas. Report this Post to the Staff
Spence Moderator United States 34393 Posts	Posted 06/29/2025 8:27 pm @cis, I believe that this is a relatively inexpensive, late Roman bronze, right? I ask because the use of stainless steel instruments to scrape away at the surface seems a bit aggressive to me--in between the letters on the obv for example. With your ancient coins with higher numismatic value, you might consider dialing things back a bit. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
Cissy18 Valued Member United States 51 Posts	Posted 06/29/2025 9:56 pm @spence thank you for your suggestion! Do you think that plastic toothpicks would be better? Report this Post to the Staff
Spence Moderator United States 34393 Posts	Posted 06/29/2025 9:59 pm Yes, although I am partial to wood ones. You won't remove as much material, but I kinda think that is a good thing. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 7 / Views: 741

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