Latest cleaning project

[casata137ec]

Afternoon all,

I have been in a cleaning funk as of late, it seems that a lot of my normal dealers are running low-ish on decent uncleaneds to play with, so I figured it was time for a challange. I saw this guy on an auction site and ended up getting him for pretty cheap. As we all know, pictures can be decieving, and the auction pic was sort of a mess. Suprisingly, my pic (below) is a pretty good version, pretty much the way it looks in hand.

So, what do we have? Attrib wise (and you should all know by now that I really have to work at attribing) it looks to be an AR or billon tetradrachm from possibly Antioch and possibly Caracalla. Cleaning wise, it has it all. Green crusties, red boils, and a bit of dirt, BUT, the coin looks and feel sound and the detail is pretty nice...for that matter, from what I can see of the fields they are even smooth(ish). I will start off today with a simple water/nylon or sbbb brushing and then a diluted ammonia soak overnight. Tomorrow I will start picking.

I will keep you apprised of the progress as for once I actually thought to take a pic of the coin before I started cleaning! (Trust me, I almost started as soon as I got it, but then I remembered...just in time! lol)

Chris


25mm 13.00g

[larry c]

I love a challange!
Show us some progress pics!

[TomX]

I have a coin in similar condition, with red boils. I was afraid to touch it
so it's in the album now.

What little experience I've had with red boils is that they are deep. To dig
them out leaves a crater.

What's your plan of attack?

[casata137ec]

Well...I was going to (as I said above  ) simply give it a water based scrubbing with a nylon or sbbb or both and then soak it in diluted ammonia overnight, but I got antsy and pulled it out of the ammonia after a couple of hours and started scrubbing and minor picking...here is the next pic, I am really really happy so far...

Chris

PS Thomas - it looks like everything here is surface mounted and will pick/pop off or just be disolved by the soaks, I have found that the red boils on silver/billon are a heck of a lot easier to clean than on bronze, which like you said, usually have eaten into the flan of the coin.

C.

[casata137ec]

OK...so after a night of ammonia soaking and a morning of brushing and picking, here is where we stand...this one is turning out great, but as for a challenge, it's not that challenging...ah well...I'll find another that will keep me a bit more busy I am sure.

Chris

[mwilson603]

Chris, that is excellent work!  Really impressive results,

regards

Mark

[casata137ec]

Thanks Mark, but I have met with minor disaster...the area that the big chunk had attached to his cheek was a bit crystalized and after another vigorous nylon brushing this afternoon it collapsed...  So much for my near FDC (well, if it would have been smoother and a bit more centered)...heheheh. I'll post pics tomorrow, right now I am letting the poor guy rest. He has been through some trauma in the last two days.


Chris

PS I must say that I really do love tetradrachm! Even the crudded up ones that I have are really nice in hand. The weight and size just makes them scream hold me!

C.

[Mayadigger]

Ave!

0

Desciple Chris, here's the deal with coins like this with red encrustations such as your's; let them be, wax and flip.

Or, you can turn to the "Dark Side"  ; IE Zap the coin in GG's 1 in very hot water for 5 minutes or less. The red encrustations should disappear with Dremel SBBBing. Then repatinate with your choice of JAX solution.

Best,

Kevin

[Raymond]

So much for my near FDC

what's FDC?

Re the Dark Side temptation: instead of clipping the coin and then dunking it, how about dropping the coin in the electrolyte, connecting a short "wand" to the black terminal or the (-) and then selectively bridging the electrical connection specifically where the red incrustations are, thus theoretically preserving the unblemished areas? 

Does anyone have extra tetradrachms that I can experiment on?

Raymond

[Mayadigger]

Ave!

Ray, FDC = fleur-de-coin (French), or MS = Mint State (English), or in German 'stempleglanze".

The difference between the latter two terms and the former is that in the last two cases, the terms refer to a "mint" condition. IE, no visible wear, etc.

With the FDC, or 'fleur-de-coin', description, the idea is that the coin is not only in 'mint' condition, but also perfectly stuck/centered on both sides, etc. Basically, FDC means that this is a perfect example of the issue with no imperfections.

Chris, the down side to zapping coins with these type red encrustations is that much too often, there may be pitting hidden under the red. FYI, according to my understanding of FDC, your's would not fit the bill, as it's ill-centered and shows wear. 

Best,

K