Cleaning Billon

Well, its been recommended to use diluted acetic acid (glacial vinegar). Short dips, a wash, a poke at if theres any dirt. I've seena video of a guy clean a fully centered and sharp quietus denarius like that, so it must be good. Takes a while though.

Its the american name for white vinegar, or the chemical name for white vinegar prepared stochiometrically. The crystal clear vinegar, basically.

White wine vinegar will probably do the trick, but Id steer clear of malt vinegar.

I have always favored acetone over vinegar, it tends to be gentler, but either should do the job. Just be careful you don't over clean the coin. Sometimes Billon is not as homogenous as one would hope and you could end up with different colored and or blotchy surfaces. If the coin is a nice even grey you should be fine, if you can see obvious flecks and swirls of other colors you might as well leave it be. You also have to be careful that the coin is not Potin, consisting of Zinc,Lead,Tin and sometimes Nickel, you could wind up with something that looks rather distasteful, pitted and discolored.

AN - interesting you should say that. I assume that he's trying to make it shiny and silvery, not just clean the muck. But, using acetone would do about the same - the copper in billon photocatalyses the acetone into Acetic Acid. Its slow and takes quite a while, but its a very gentle approach.

Done my best with the photos

First is Julia and is supposed to be billon
I have not tried to clean her yet.





The second one is supposed to be an unknown silver denarius.
I tried to polish the highlights to try and read the legend, not very successful, still don't know who he is.

This one I did a 30 second dip in white vinegar and scrubbed with a toothbrush. The surface dirt came off and I left it for a few hours in DW.

It looks as though the surface is flaking. There is brown toning which could be tarnish, if you scratch it it is silver colour underneath.

Where the top surface has gone, the underneath is a white/silvery colour, but more white than silver and it looks slightly porus. Can't get in close enough for a pic.

This forum has cost me a fortune!

I think they would be round to take their card back!