To Clean Or Not To Clean

If your happy with the way it looks than leave it along.

You have a great looking coin... "If It Ain't Broke..Don't Fix It"

Personally I'd keep it as is. But if you still want to clean it use a brass brush on a dremel rotary tool. 1st test this on another similar coin for practice such as a Lincoln Cent that must've come out a wishing fountain.

Inexpensive brass brushes and rotary tool can be bought at a Harbor Freight Tools.

On a semi related note, does anyone have a link to the thread about the guy I think he found a Indian Head cent in floorboards or something and everyone told him not to clean it and he ended up taking a rotory tool to it. I have searched and cant find it, it may have been a while back?

The general consensus among ancients collectors is that uncleaned coins should only be cleaned until the coin can be properly identified, or if the patina is devolving into bronze disease. This coin has been identified and the patina looks stable, so conventional wisdom holds that further cleaning is not required.

As for using a dremel, sometimes it is warranted on hard, crusty coins - but only a nylon brush, a brass brush would be way too harsh a treatment. Great care and practice is required, because putting any kind of powered tool onto an ancient artefact can easily ruin it if used carelessly. And again, only to be used until the coin can be identified - which is not warranted in this case.


Ah yes. The whizzed Indian affair. Whizzing is far more controversial on modern coins than on ancients, because moderns don't (or at least aren't supposed to) have a thick crusty accretion of rocklike dirt around them.

I think this looks great - there seems to be some really nice detail on the bust. I personally would leave it 'as is' and would not recommend anything other than a soak in olive oil if you have to have a go at cleaning it.

Be aware though if you do clean it it may become like the Julian coin you have pics of on here - sometimes a bit of original grime and dirt can help the details stand out - without it the text could become very difficult to read.

As far as value goes there are so many Constantine I coins around that the prices are usually low. I'm sure I read somewhere that Constantine minted over 300 million? coins during his 30 year reign, thats why they are so good for beginners to start with.

Unless this one is listed as rare it would prob sell for anywhere between $5 and $15 on ebay. I think ebay is the best ref for pricing coins, books are good but become outdated quickly - ultimately coins are only worth what people are prepared to pay for them.

I think that if you like its kind do not clean. Though it should be cleaned.