About 4 months ago 3 dozen coins began the cleaning process. Something like this is new to me so may have done something wrong along the way (or could have done better). They started out soaking them all in distilled water for 3 months, changing the water twice a week. Then a soft toothbrush removed any loosened dirt. They cleaned up better than expected but could use more
work. After that all were placed in olive oil. After 1 week there they faced the toothbrush again before being returned to a new oil bath. That is with the exception of 2 which paid a visit to H2O2 - which can be discussed in a different post when those are finished.
This is the coin I'm most pleased with the process, a yet to be attributed
sestertius. Before the process one could, with some imagination and
good light, just make out the outlines on both sides. Unlike the other coins this one didn't have a lot of dirt to remove so there is not much difference (at least to my aging eyes) after those 3 months. But I am really impressed with the results from the olive oil. Sadly before these came into my possession it appears as if someone tortured this coin with an ice
pick - thus the multitude of white dots speckled across the surface.
The olive oil did wonders as one can now more easily make out the details of this coin. There are
still a couple rough spots.
Kind of a
side track semi related thought here --- The couple soaking in H2O2 are
still soaking. It's a 3% solution and I change it out a couple times a day (when bubbles seem to slow down). What I read before using the H2O2 was to use 35% solution. I couldn't find it anywhere, well not exactly true - Granger sells a 500 ml
bottle for $80 but one needs a business account with them and they only "deliver" to a business address, a little pricey for a nearly culled coin - if all else fails may try this route but for now a less expensive path of least resistance. Amazon has several for sale that were described as 35% diluted to 12% - why even begin stating 35% the concentration - who cares about the starting concentration. Further reading I learned the government regulates the shipment of H2O2 and anything above 12% cannot legally be mailed - probably why Granger only delivers to a business address. That said I did find someone claiming to sell 35% at a reasonable
price (but have my doubts it's going to be like what I found on amazon) It has yet to arrive but when it does those 2 coins
still soaking will experience the higher concentration of H2O2 be it 35% or 12%.
Back to this coin, should I call it
good or should I do something else to it? distilled water? olive oil? H2O2? or something else?
The
attribution process will begin soon too - any suggestions as to where to look?
Augustus?
Commodus?
Thanks for your interest.
