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 Replies: 11 / Views: 1,509 |
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
..I'm quite fond of. So my question. Is this safe? I bought it a couple months ago and am barely getting it out and asking these questions as I don't know the best way to get crust off Ancients. This seller had 10 it looks like and all sold and he has 100% positive feedback. It was little money, so any answer to protect my coins is fine with me  Thanks! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Coin-Cleani...46938557?ru=http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html%3F_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=231346938557&_rdc=1&nma=true&si=I0qxrRg9%252BeCt6wKcwp%252FZDTR1Aww%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 swcoin.ecrater.com
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Pillar of the Community
3772 Posts |
Electrolysis is the cleaning method of last resort.
If your coins are in decent shape, then the simple answer is a clear NO.
There is a high risk of causing damage, especially to base metal coins.
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
NO!, Please do not use this method. It can destroy a coin in seconds. It will remove the dirt and the patina and pit the coin also. The best methods are still either soaking the coin in distilled water or olive oil . The down side is that it is a very slow process, so you need to be patient. I prefer using olive oil but it does darken the coin a bit, still I think it's a bit faster than distilled water. Distilled water is the preferred method by most others.
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Moderator
 United States
16679 Posts |
OK, thank you! This method is toast. Distilled water I knew of but olive oil I've used in the past, with little success.
This fond Byzantine coin had been improperly cleaned, exposing some bronze "Red".
Still has tan patina on it's fields.
I'll try to get a pic up soon.
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Even when the museum professionals clean ancient coins after retrieval from burial, there is always a risk of the loss or severe damaging of the coins.
When these cleaned coins happen to come onto the market after professional treatment, we as collectors, should never have to use our embryonic skills to clean them further. The professionals have already taken the risk, and have already taken the hit of the loss of a small number of them.
The only uncleaned lots of ancient coins I have seen are of low value, where apparently the low value does not justify the effort of the professional to clean them.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
I have cleaned many (many) coins. Hundreds of them. I can tell you now, electrolysis should never be used by any of us. Patience is the key.
If you get a picture up, we'll be able to tell you how to best clean it. In every instance, Distilled Water is the safest, but also the slowest, option. Olive Oil is next, but as said, it can darken coins. This is a good method if metal is already exposed. Sometimes, its necessary to clean mechanically, but you need a lot of patience to do this and it carries a high risk of screwups.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
Throw it away!
If you are burning to try it, put it away until you have what you KNOW is a worthless coin, and then try it on that.
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Moderator
United States
16679 Posts |
Sounds good.
If I do an olive oil soak, once the coin has been removed, what's the best way to remove the olive oil off the coin?
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Moderator
United States
23731 Posts |
Over the years I've cleaned thousands of coins using olive oil. After the coin is cleaned I just wipe it with a soft cloth didn't need to do anything else.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5417 Posts |
I currently have a promising lot of 200 coins in olive oil. They've been in for a month and I'm expecting they'll be in there for a couple more months before any significant results. Olive oil has worked well in the past for me. The problem with using distilled water is that it has to be replaced a lot more often than olive oil. After I am satisfied that olive oil has worked on the coin to the point I want it to, I will just take the coina from the oil, wash it with distiled water and gently clean it with a soft cloth which should remove any residual dirt/thick patina.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
513 Posts |
You can rig up your own for the cost of a 9V battery, a spoon and some wire. That isn't to say that you should, because it'll ruin your coins, but there's no reason to pay that much for a set up. His uses more power so it'll ruin your coins more quickly and completely though.
Really if you understand the science behind electrolysis you'll understand why it's such a bad idea on coins. The crust and dirt on a coin is not going to be directly removed by the process, because the only thing that is going to react is metal. That metal is coming off the coin. The crud coming off is a by-product (the stuff under it gets eaten away so the stuff on top falls off) but to get that to happen you're going to have to remove a small layer of the coin itself and its patina (which is, by the way, a protective layer that will cause the coin to further degrade over time if it is removed.) You will probably end up with an identifiable coin this way, but a far, far less attractive and valuable coin.
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Moderator
United States
16679 Posts |
Thanks again guys! Going in olive oil when I get home from work tonight and I'll get a "before" picture posted :-)
swcoin.ecrater.com
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Replies: 11 / Views: 1,509 |
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Posted 12/19/2014 02:45 am
