I wasn't expecting this....

[lestabantam]

I've been cleaning up some low grade coins, found by a metal detectorist in the UK, and was most surprised when silver started poking through on one of them. I carried on with distilled water and soft toothbrushing until I was damn sure it was silver, not silvered and then took the lemon juice plunge,it's taken some scrubbing but I'm delighted to find a fairly rare Elagabalus Silver Denarius. (RIC 131)

I'm attaching the before and after pics so you can appreciate what a surprise this was.

I'm now wondering whether to stop cleaning or carry on soaking in lemon juice and scrubbing or call it a day, It's pushing 1800 years old so maybe I should leave a bit of dirt and toning on it? I would welcome your opinions, there's part of me that wants to finish the job but another part that tells me I'll regret it later!

[rick2]

leave it at this

dont risk damaging the coin !

good find

[Aarmale]

Oh my goodness! I really like the before-after photos, it really shows improvement!

[Johnny]

Excellent find,  and I would also leave it as is ...impressive

[Coinseum]

Brilliant! What an exciting coin to find. This is what those of us who are addicted to cleaning dream about. In fact I have some UK detectorist coins in mt to do box that I havn't  had a close look at yet, so guess what I'll be doing tonight once my boys have gone to bed. 

[romeo]

this makes me smile, for all those on this board that always seem to say that most uncleaned lots are a waste of time because they have been picked through a million times and all you get is crappy 4th century A4 bronzes, this is proof of the thrill of the hunt, like fishing i guess. Nice find!

[lestabantam]

Beginners luck, I guess!

What makes me smile is the lot was "12 low grade roman bronzes" on eBay, it was in a sorry state so you can see how easy it was for the detectorist to miss.

I'll leave it in distilled water for a day or two to be sure the lemon juice is gone then add it to my fledgling collection. My first silver, is it the done thing to wax silver coins or leave them?

Thanks,

LB

[areich]

What an innocent question.   
Opinions differ.

[Jay GT4]

That's fantastic!  Congratulations.  I had a similar beginners luck find.  My Caligula AE Vesta As was in an uncleaned lot and it's VF boardering on EF.  Every once in a while they slip out!
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-36964

[Arminius]

That´s the motivating side of our hobby.

Leave it as it is - but as a final step BOIL IT IN SODA SOLUTION to neutralise the acids and stabilise the surface.

regards

[Matthew W2]

That's fantastic!  Congratulations.  I had a similar beginners luck find.  My Caligula AE Vesta As was in an uncleaned lot and it's VF boardering on EF.  Every once in a while they slip out!
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-36964

That was in an uncleaned lot?! Wow.

That silver is a really nice find too!!

I once got a holed silver coin for free in an extra batch of slugs that an ebay seller was offering. Basically, you bought some uncleaneds, and he included a bunch of slugs/broken/holed coins to practice on.

The one I got was solid smooth jet black, with no discernible detail, not even the hole. 20 minutes of lemon juice later and it was a beautiful (holed) silver coin from the 18th century. I forget the attribution off the top of my head, but the inscription was in an arabic script. I'll see if I can get a picture up soon.



 

[lestabantam]

I'm not surprised that waxing opinions differ, I think I'll leave it. I'll take the advice on boiling it in soda solution though, thanks.

Nice coin, Jay!