Fully silvered Fel Temp

[Jschulze]

Hi all,
I have this nearly fully silvered Constantius II Fel Temp that I have a few cleaning questions about.

This came in a cheap lot of mostly junk coins. When I got it, the coin was covered in crud and showed no promise. However, after a couple months of soaking in distilled water (and brushing) I was surprised to find that it is still fully silvered.

My questions are:

I've already soaked this for a couple months and most of the green that's left is pretty stubborn. I don't want to start to brush off the silver. Are there any suggestions on how to proceed? More soaking? Another solution? Stop while I'm ahead?

Finally, I don't know if I've seen that many (horseman) with this much original silvering intact. Is this rare or significant? Or is this more common that I've been seeing?

Many thanks!

Josh

23-21mm
No weight available

[SC]

All the Falling Horsemen Fel Temps looked like that once.  At least all the larger ones.  But it is fairly rare to find them like that today.  Especially in a junk lot.  Count yourself lucky. 

I think at this time different mints might have been doing the silvering in different ways.  It is very rare to find such silvering on FHs struck at western mints but more common at the eastern mints.

For cleaning read the thread on how to clean silvered (not silver) coins for some tips.

I am not sure you need to do much.

It is not clear from the photo what the green bits are.  By looking under magnification you should be able to tell if they are on top of the silvering or appear to be in holes in the silvering.

If they are on top of the silvering then they are malachite encrustations and you might be able to remove them with a scalpel - but I would not start on such a nice coin.  Get practice elsewhere.

If they are below the level of the silvering then they are corrosion/verdigris on the bare bronze where the silvering has worn or cracked off and nothing can really be done.

Shawn


 

[Bill W4]

unless you have some very good cleaning skills, I would leave it as is.  Really nice coin, wish it was mine.

[wileyc]

I agree with Bill

Its in excellent condition for a ancient and appropriately shows its age, you have done a excellent job cleaning it. I see no benefit in any furthur work on it.


cw

[Jschulze]

Thank you all for your comments!

Yes, I'm pretty happy with this coin! I would be really down on myself if I nursed the beauty back out of this coin, only to ruin it by going overboard on the cleaning. So I'll most likely give it one last soft and light brush and put it in the book.

The remaining green is patina like in composition but does cover silver rather than underlying bronze. So... I know I could get more of it off but what's left is stubborn enough that it probably isn't worth the risk. 

It's funny how I appreciate a common coin that I've spent a little time on more than those I've spent much more for that are in better condition! Thank you again for your opinions!

Josh