| Author |
 Replies: 15 / Views: 2,460 |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Recently bought a denier of Carolingian Emperor of the Franks, Louis the Pious, the son and successor of Charlemagne. This one however is not from the more common mints like Metallum, which is one of the two main reasons why I got it. Instead this coin was struck in Venice. This coin being from medieval Italy is the other reason why. Aside from bronze Byzantine coins, coins from Italy during this time period are rare (as if this coin being Carolingian doesn't make it rare enough  ). I'm OK with cleaning bronze but I have zero experience cleaning silver, and I think this coin can be improved a bit (its not in hand yet). Can anyone provide advice on how to clean it properly, if possible? I'm thinking of leaving it in distilled water and lightly brushing it from time to time.   Edited by VisigothKing
11/20/2014 4:59 pm
|
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4964 Posts |
that's pretty cool VK...my only venetian was struck much later.
I'm also to scared to clean sliver and haven't done it....some have here with spectacular success. if someone doens't chime in, look at some of the old threads, I remember people told their technique...but don't exactly remember what they did.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
Do you know what the percentage of silver it is likely to be?
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
5155 Posts |
I wouldn't attempt ANY type of cleaning on this piece. A matter of fact I wouldn't handle it all that much, look at the out crop just above the reverse "S" it has a serious crack. You could loose the section above the "S". I would recommend you let it be. I believe the coin to be unstable and at this point is fragile. I would photograph it very well and be done with it.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
Quote:
just above the reverse "S" it has a serious crack Well observed  So it has to be handled carefully, perhaps a dip in acetone holding it with pincers at the top edge would be okay. |
|
Pillar of the Community
 United States
4778 Posts |
Thanks guys. I like the acetone method, am tempted to try that out (I'll see if I can scrounge up a sacrificial coin to test it on first).
Pish I believe these are around 95-99% silver, but I'm not completely sure.
Edited by VisigothKing
11/21/2014 12:54 am
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Looking into Venice's early 9th century history I found out that, although it was in practice independent, the two major powers, the Frankish Empire and the Byzantine Empire acknowledged that Venice was to be within the Byzantine sphere of influence, and more importantly, that Venice was never under official Frankish control. So basically Venice struck coinage in the name of another country's ruler. I'll have to do more research but from the info I found so far it seems Carolingian coinage was struck by the Venetians to facilitate trade with the Franks, since Venice was a major trading partner with them.
It has the same reference types (MG, MEC) as other Carolingian coins. And every other source I've found with Frankish-Venetian coins has it described as Carolingian. So I'll put it under Carolingian where it belongs but put a note saying that it was struck by the Venetian Republic.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
Nice research. Now what category would it fall under? 'Outsourcing' as so common nowadays or 'imitation coinage' like some of the Dirhems minted for the crusaders or somewhere in between? Here a link for you, so you can determine which specific variety yours is: http://numismatica-italiana.lamonet...eta/W-LVDI/2 |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
I improved it a little bit.  |
|
Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
Not just a little bit - looks phantastic now.
With the +VEN / ECIAS so clear the right CNI reference from the link above would be 7,23 imo.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4964 Posts |
dang, looks good VK. how did you clean it?
Edited by chrsmat71
12/14/2014 9:13 pm
|
|
Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Thanks guys! Chrsmat, had it soak in lemon juice for a couple of days. Once per day I took it out and brushed/picked at it with toothpicks until I got to how it is in the photos. Today I just finished getting the remaining bits of dirt off.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
Quote:
soak in lemon juice Pure lemon juice or do you mix it with water? |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
4778 Posts |
Pure. Although the first and second days I had it mixed with some lime juice (bought a lemon after I already had the coin in the lime juice and simply mixed the lemon and lime juice together, then on the third day I replaced the mix with pure lemon). But lemon juice by itself should be sufficient enough.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
Thanks, wondered if you had reduced the acidity by mixing.
With the acidity in lemon juice being roughly the same as in vinegars (not French or Italian though), one should be able to use those as well.
|
| |
Replies: 15 / Views: 2,460 |
|
Posted 11/20/2014 5:47 pm
