meet my sandy

[Brian L]

These are the before and after pix of my latest cleaned coin that I just  finished.
Its from my latest group of uncleaned coins I picked up from the FORVM.
This is the first sandy that I did with the right tools namely, DDDP.
Most of the cleaning was easy,I worked on it dry, slow and steady, but I did make mistakes,
I went to far at the top of the reverse because
I did GLORI and CITVS  first and had to dig deep to find the letters,
when I went for A EXER, it was like the letters were weakly struck
or just worn down because I kept digging, looking for letters
and didnt find any and wound up cleaning to much sandy off.
Oh well,I'll know for the next one.

I attributed it with the help of Helveticas List as:
Constantine II
RIC. VII, 199, Thessalonica

Obv:CONSTANTINVS IVN NOB C -  laureate, cuirassed bust right
Rev: GLORI-A EXER-CITVS -  two soldiers  with two standards between them                         Exergue:  SMTSB

Is this correct?
What do you think of my sandy?
Thanks for the opinions.

[Akropolis]

"...when I went for A EXER, it was like the letters were weakly struck
or just worn down because I kept digging, looking for letters
and didnt find any "

I see them rather clearly on the "before" image.
PeteB

[Tiberiusjulius]

Yeah, I agree with pete, I think they are still their right know, but you can not see them as well because you did not keep the sand in between the letters which complements the letters to makes them more visible. Overall a very nice job!

[gavignano]

Sandies are a matter of taste , in that:does the sandy patina add to the contrast - it can be quite beautiful then.
Does it obscure much detail? If so, it is of the rank of dirt, and some needs to go.
The tough part - how much - its like a haircut - once you take too much off.........
Personally, i would have kept a bit more of the sandy on, like in the area of the laureate. But, I've gone too far with many coins. Advice easily given but seldom followed!
Your after is still a nice coin - if you like it, its a keeper. Joe

[Mayadigger]

Ave!

Wow! Excellent job cleaning!

Done; wax and flip.

Kevin

[Johnny]

I agree with the others on this,  Nice job.

These are very hard coins to clean without removing ( loosing too much sand ),  and patience is a big key  with these

nicely done


CAUTION ************Be careful,  sandy patina coins are highly addictive  **********


@ Kevin....  do you wax  sand patina coins ?

[Dino]

Kevin....  do you wax  sand patina coins ?

Good question.

[Mayadigger]

Ave!

Kevin....  do you wax  sand patina coins ?

Good question.

Excellent question, indeed!

But first, let's address the question on cleaning 'sandies', shall we?

When cleaning 'desert patina' issues, your best bet to address them wet as possible.

Often times, these super-dry type issues, even after a 7-day soak in DW, fail to 'get wet'...or that is, muddy. Not to worry, though, just continue to keep the coin wet with water, or spit (better) as you address it with a common DP or a DDDP (better). In most cases, a toothbrush is a waste of time, IMO. No Gringgotts mixes!

Concerning patina below the sand, again, in most cases, it should be near jet black. But, unfortunately, we sometimes come across a coin as seen below.

A lovely Constantius II Ae 2 fel temp from Antioch.

In cleaning this issue I screwed up by over-cleaning the obv, despite all of the advice that I mentioned above.  Well, no one's perfect....

In this case, the coin DID NOT have the smooth black patina as normally found in these 'DP' issues, but instead a 'green', water-based patina under the sand. I then halted any further cleaning.

As for Ren Waxing DP issues; no problem. The RW will bring out all the colors of your coins with no harm.

DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, APPLY DELLERS TO DP COINS! Trust me....!

All for now,

Kevin