Shall I Cease Using This Forum?

I have no experience with cleaning coins, except for a few very low grade ones.

The comment I make here has almost certainly been made many times before, over the years.

It is very common for ancient coins to be professionally cleaned after recovery from long term burial.

From the pictures it looks that the metal under any corrosion is not disturbed by electrolysis, but any patina has been removed.
With good technique, a nice patina can be artificially put back in place. That is a good thing, because a good patina can help with subsequent preservation of an ancient coin.

I have no doubt that electrolysis has been used successfully in the right circumstances, by museum professionals, in the cleaning and preservation of ancient coins, and modern coins as well, that have been buried.

Just read jstav's post from Baylor University. wow -- they zap with a car battery charger! I use a low power cell phone charger. Also, my experience shows it is NOT good to use a stainless steel electrode. Use a carbon rod!

@gtkwml, I think that you will find the ancients crowd a bit more accepting of more aggressive coin restoration techniques than the modern US coin crowd. However, having divergent opinions on our hobby is a good thing in my opinion.

I think you should reconsider sticking around. We are here to help and educate. When it comes to conserving and cleaning ancient coins and artifacts using electrolysis is not and approved method and never used by conservators. The use of distilled water and olive oil are among the few methods that are used and produce good results. Yes, the process takes a while but the results do not damage the coin. Over my years of collecting I have cleaned thousands of coins and have use only three methods, distilled water, olive oil, or ultrasound. I have also seen many coins that have been zapped and it's pretty easy to tell that's how they were cleaned.

Please still around, I sure you will be able to get a lot of knowledge and enjoy collecting as much as we do.

I'm in my 5th year in the hobby. 2 years ago I got into a private argument with a very prominent person in the hobby over sharing information regarding the detection of fakes. Since I was new I was always asking about specific detection methods, and his opinion was that the only rule a newbie needed to know was to buy from a trusted buyer. It escalated and I ended up with some pretty hurt feelings.

I've been on the internet since when it was known as USENET and BITNET in the mid-1980s. It's all too easy to get offended or say things you wouldn't say to someone face-to-face. You've got to keep that in mind and most importantly...

Cut the other party some slack.

Try to assume the best instead of the worst. I read the thread you're referring to and I didn't see anything offensive in it. But if you need to chill then do so.

I would recommend that you don't however because this hobby is incredibly small with some incredibly knowledgeable people in it. I've found that it's worthwhile to put up with some BS or offensiveness because the level of expertise on forums like this is pretty high.

My intent was not to make an ad hominem attack, but to criticize the very idea of stripping a bronze coin coin quite literally, down to the bone.
As a general rule I collect (and often sell) bronze coins. Sometimes they need a bit of "conservation" and I have used a variety of household chemicals (even Liquid Plumber !).
But one thing I will never intentionally do is strip a coin down to bare bronze.
Unless you plan on spray painting it with Rustoleum (or from a numismatic perspective) what is the point ?
A barely recognizable LRB is worth more than that.
When I purchase larger lots of bronzes I have sometimes found some of these.
I lump them together in small lots and dump them for what amounts to pennies apiece. !

I read most of the Baylor University paper above.
What struck me most was a comment about a precleaning procedure to remove green "cupric carbonates".
The author discounts the method because
"However, this process took up to twenty hours (or longer), depending on the amount of corrosion"

An object has been buried in the ground for two thousand years and soaking it for 20 hours to improve it is considered a big drawback when conserving it ?
Even minor touch up cleaning can take days if not weeks !
A major job will often take 6 months to a year.
Don't get me wrong .......
I am not some kind of idealistic purist either.
I have done some cleaning and done some 'fixing' by applying things like "liver of sulphur" or as mentioned above dropping in a solution of Drano.
But as I also stated
I see no point in stripping a surface down to the bare bone.
Especially when the result is somewhat akin to using sulphuric acid on it
I don't see any real improvements
I see only destruction of part of its history
The "patina" often preserves many of the details on a coin. Removal can often erase too much and leave a corroded looking moonscape.

My only other interest is .......
What on earth do you do with what must amount to thousands of these coins ?
I imagine a kilo would be close to that and you say better than 90% get this treatment.
Is this a 'commercial' venture that requires economy ?

BTW
I shall hitherto refrain from comment on all threads dealing with this process