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Replies: 15 / Views: 1,835 |
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New Member
Portugal
22 Posts |
I messed up cleaning a silver denarius, it had litle spots of mud that I was cleaning with a toothpick, all fine until I decided to use a glass fiber tiny brush.... I scrashed the coin and I'm feeling terrible about it  , it looks kinda polished you can say... any way to remedy this? (sorry for the bad image quality, the scrash is to the right of the bust), Thanks.   Edited by DanielGu 07/12/2018 5:12 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5825 Posts |
So now you have a coin with scratches. And now you know why we say "Don't clean your coins." Highly unlikely that you can undo what you've done.
Lesson learned (I hope).
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
 Tend to agree. How about a close-up of the crime scene?  to the CCF!
Edited by Coinfrog 07/12/2018 5:28 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
Canada
21626 Posts |
Just leave it. Anything you try to do will just make it worse.
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New Member
 Portugal
22 Posts |
I know I messed up, but I only clean mud and clay from coins, I know what brushes you can use, but "fiber glass" I just Tought that glass would not scrash silver, but if I look in a magnifying glass the "scrash" looks like the rest of the coin, it polished that spot thats all, I just wanted a way to darken it
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21788 Posts |
Don't worry about it.
I have seen lots of denarii, both cleaned and uncleaned that are much worse than yours is now.
Just remember that almost all ancient coins that been in direct contact ground burial have been cleaned.
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
Wow that's some scratch ,but it doesn't look deep . It looks more like a heavy scuff mark . I would indiscreetly try to darken it up to the exact color of the rest of the coin . 
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Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote: I just wanted a way to darken it It'll get darker with time
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3443 Posts |
Clean the coin with acetone (or alcohol) and wrap it in a ball of black and white newspaper. Leave it in a warm sunny place (window) for a few weeks. It will darken and possibly even "cure" your problem
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Pillar of the Community
United States
616 Posts |
Ancient collectors are more tolerant of cleaning than modern collectors. We have to be given the condition they are found in. I'd pull the coin out of that 2x2 and put it into a flip. The air will likely fix your problem over a few months.
I wouldn't worry much about it. It's a nice bust of the "thug" and after a few weeks no one will likely notice your "mistake."
But pull it out of that 2x2. Ancient collectors are more hands-on than our modern counterparts.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1120 Posts |
Quote: Ancient collectors are more tolerant of cleaning than modern collectors Yes, as stated in this thread, almost ALL ancients have been cleaned at one point or another. Scratches, scuffs, nicks, cracks are all part of ancient coin collecting. Only difference is most coins we attain already have them on it. Example of one of my favs with tons of scratches and I don't care, I love the coin!  
Edited by travelcoin 07/13/2018 08:42 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3443 Posts |
Now imagine if it was a 1909 S VDB that had been buried in river sand for the past 109 years. The collectors would be saying "What a shame !" But it's merely 1,900 years old so we can still say "Nice Hadrian semis !"
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New Member
 Portugal
22 Posts |
Thank you all for the advice  I will give him some air to breath and if it doesn't work I'm gonna try the alcohol and sun treatment.  lesson learned, and in my honest opinion fiber glass brushes are a bad version of the brass ones (same risk, harder to use, harder to clean and get worn WAY faster).
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CCF Advertiser
 United States
1306 Posts |
Well you will laugh at what I have to say probably but here goes: Silver rusts to a black Silver Oxide and that protects the coin in many respects. So people are correct, air will oxidize the exposed silver back to a more uniform character and look. But you have a decent amount of silver oxide on the coin. And silver oxide can probably be gently smoothed from one place to another with just a few rubs of your finger. It is pretty dark below the chin. Or if you had another silver coin with a dark complexion you did not care about much just rub your finger over it a few times until you see your finger turn black and rub that finger gently over the exposed silver on this coin. Of course just waiting will heal this as well as long as you allow the oxidation process.
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New Member
 Portugal
22 Posts |
I cant believe this... I didnt believe you could "move" Silver oxide, I mean you can do it to Iron oxide but its way diferent... but look at this, just after a few rubs Before:  After:  Thank you soo much, this comunity never fails to impress  
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CCF Advertiser
 United States
1306 Posts |
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Replies: 15 / Views: 1,835 |
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