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 Replies: 14 / Views: 1,491 |
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Valued Member
Canada
156 Posts |
Hello all. I have been a lurker on this site since march and I finally decided I needed an account. A little bit about myself, I have been collecting for a little over 2 years and I collect a little bit of everything. Any Canadian coins and paper money, same goes for American, particularly wheats, and a wide variety of foreign coins. So last weekend I went to my local yearly coin show and I picked up my first ancient coin. It is a copper Victorinus coin from the Gallic empire minted between the brief period when Victorinus was emperor, 269-271. That is about all I know about it. I think this coin is so awesome that I want to get more ancient coins and so today I started looking into uncleaned lots of ancient coins on ebay. And so my question is, if I were to buy an uncleaned lot, how would I properly clean the coins? Thanks for the help. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
Gotta watch buying those uncleaned coins. Some of them have already been cleaned or partially cleaned, re-coated with dirt, etc. Some of them have been electrolysis victims. You might want to post them here before buying as a beginner.
Anyways.. to answer your question.
Most bronze coins be cleaned by soaking in distilled water for a time. You can use soft toothbrushes, Q-tips and toothpicks. Avoid using needles and dental picks for awhile until you get the hang of using toothpicks. Also, when using toothpicks or needles, go in very small circular motions. Do the fields first and then work on the obverse and reverse designs. Look up the coin if you know what it is to know the design. It's also trial and error. And a lot of patience goes a lot way. They were in the ground for 1000 or more years.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
You can use olive oil as well. Olive oil will usually darken the coin but can remove some of the toughest dirt.
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
 to the community and congrats on your first ancient coin. Now that you have one you will most likely get hooked like the rest of us here. IMO there are no other types of coins that span the history of the world as ancients do. There are several methods on how to clean ancients. Depending on your level of experience they will vary somewhat. The simplest way to start is to soak the coin in distilled water or olive for an amount of time and than using a soft tooth brush gently brush the coin. This is a long process so be patient. What you want to do is only remove the dirt and not remove the patina. Good luck with your efforts and post a picture when you get your coin. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4973 Posts |
good advice from gg and e! not much to add..just be patient TCG...that is probably the most important thing in cleaning. it can be a blast though...I've been doing it tonight! post pics of your new coins and the guys here will tell you all about it!  Edited by chrsmat71
11/03/2012 10:25 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
That Canadian Guy Always great when lurkers sign up and join in, even if its just to say they are here  The advice above is good and all you really need to get started, it can get a bit more complicated with chemicals and electrolysis but I'd keep away from these for a bit if I were you. I cant really point you in the direction of good sellers (I'm sure others can and will shortly) but http://www.dirtyoldcoins.com usually gets good reviews from people, not the cheapest but well known and reliable. Dont forget to show us your Victorinus and we'll help you fully ID it. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4253 Posts |
and |
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Valued Member
 Canada
156 Posts |
Thank you everyone for the helpful advice. I will see about getting pictures of my coin up here.
How is electrolysis used to clean coins and how does it harm them?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2044 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
3352 Posts |
=> That Canadian Guy ... from Another Canadian Guy |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Canadian - I recommended Chaimaira antique coins, but their prices have recently doubled (!), and people have had issues of recieving already cleaned coins from them. what I recommend is to go onto the UK ebay and find a metal detector's batch - its usually VERY cheap per coin - last batch I saw go was 24 coins for about £10 - and that had a couple of very nice pieces in it. this means you not only get UK minted coins (which are worth slightly more than their eastern counterparts), but you can also see the actual batch you are recieving! |
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
1411 Posts |
to CCF! |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1812 Posts |
In the past I used my granddaughters "toy" rock tumbler and placed about a dozen crusted Ancient coins in the tumbler with hot water and a small amount of liquid soap. I would check the coins every hour till I was satisfied...
(you may want to practice this on 1 coin first)
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
2838 Posts |
You can make a basic electrolysis kit from an old phone charger and a few other bits and bobs but equally easily you can kill yourself by electrocution, gotta be careful  Quote:what I recommend is to go onto the UK ebay and find a metal detector's batch I have a few coins in my collection that are favorites as they came direct from the detector and only needed a little cleaning. As Ben says it can be a great way to pick up nice genuine coins with find info. Knowing the actual field the coin was found in, checking it out on Google Earth and researching the history of the area is a lot of fun, it can make a $10 coin seem priceless in your collection. Cleaning ancients is not for everyone, sometimes only one in ten are 'keepers' when your done but I think its something everyone should try, experimenting is part of the fun. |
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Valued Member
Canada
156 Posts |
My camera didn't seem to want to turn on today. I tried charging it but absolutely nothing happened.
Thanks for the tips and info on electrolysis, I think I will stay away from it for now.
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Replies: 14 / Views: 1,491 |
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Posted 11/03/2012 10:07 pm
