Posted 03/08/2011 09:49 am
Sometimes the exposure to air after being buried for centuries will have strange effects on them. You'll see everything from patina falling off, like yours, to concrete like encrustation that defies everything short of a jackhammer.
I've had good luck with boiling them with washing soda and then a long soak in distilled water. It's still hard work, but it's worth it to see something nobody else has seen for a thousand years or more. In this case, Arcadius ruled until 408CE so your coin is over 1500 years old, which just blows my mind to hold something man-made that old.
Yes, it's a geek thing.
I've had good luck with boiling them with washing soda and then a long soak in distilled water. It's still hard work, but it's worth it to see something nobody else has seen for a thousand years or more. In this case, Arcadius ruled until 408CE so your coin is over 1500 years old, which just blows my mind to hold something man-made that old.
Yes, it's a geek thing.
Edited by SPQR
03/08/2011 09:55 am
03/08/2011 09:55 am
