Any comments or advise on this sandy little Magnentius

[Matt Inglima]

Hello,
I just received this centenionalis of Magnentius at a pretty good deal.  As you can see it looks like it can use some cleaning.  I was able to knock off a couple grits of sand pretty easily with just a little pressure from my finger nail which has me thinking that it's worth a shot to try and clean.  Right now it's soaking in a bath of DW and after about a day of that I plan to use a soft nylon brush to see how much more of the sand will come off.  I'm most concerned about damaging the patina so I don't really want to use any extreme treatments like chemicals or boiling.  If anyone has any thoughts or comments I'd be glad to hear them. 
Cheers,
Matt

[Ghengis_Jon]

You're on the right track with water and a soft brush.  See what comes off with ease.  Start with a long bristle and if that isn't enough, use a cut-down toothbrush for a little more stiffness.  If the patina is fragile or thin, I'd use a dental pick or scalpel to focus the cleaning and remove the sediment.  If you don't have the experience with those tools, practice on another coin first.  Thats a decent Magnentius you've got there. 

[mwilson603]

You're on the right track with water and a soft brush.  See what comes off with ease.  Start with a long bristle and if that isn't enough, use a cut-down toothbrush for a little more stiffness.  If the patina is fragile or thin, I'd use a dental pick or scalpel to focus the cleaning and remove the sediment.  If you don't have the experience with those tools, practice on another coin first.  Thats a decent Magnentius you've got there. 

I agree with everything above, although I would try and shift any stubborn sand with a bamboo skewer before trying a scalpel or dental pick.  Just a little less chance of damaging the coin.
regards
Mark

[Matt Inglima]

Ghengis Jon and Mwilson603 thanks so much for your advice.  Tenderness is definitely going to be my approach to cleaning this coin.

[Bruno V]

Hello,
i would just try to highlight the relief with a scalpel under magnification, doing from low to up, in wet mode. No long soaking, no brushing.
Eventually a gentle (to eliminate the smallest sand particules without harming the patina) manual rubbing on the high reliefs with one of those rubber stuffs for dremels (but not mounted on a dremel) will finish the operation.
The coin is nice with that earthy deposit, and just need a little improvement, imho. Just an opinion.
Regards,
Bruno

[Mark Z]

Matt,

A few rows up under this topic there is a great thread for cleaning sand patina coins that will allow you to keep the low-lying sand patina (if that's your intention).

Good luck!

mz

[gavignano]

A nice well struck coin. Many of these are heavily worn, very pleasing to look at. Definitely the bamboo skewer would be worth doing on  the deposits on the left obverse. His chin might be tougher, will the sandy patina under those thinner deposits be there, or will it come off with a little chin picking? I'd consider treating it preventitvely regarding bronze disease - I don't see it now, but the 12 oclock part of the reverse gouge is calling out "come hither" to the evil plague.

[Matt Inglima]

Thanks again to everyone for your excellent suggestions.  I did the soaking after which I used a tooth brush, but all that seemed to come off was the very fine particles of sand, the larger bits didn't budge.  I then used a steel blade very tenderly until I saw a very small piece of exposed copper.  That's when I got cold feet and decided to end the cleaning process.  It's still sandy but with the exception of that very small bit of expose metal the patina is no worse for the wear.  Maybe I'll pick up some cheap uncleaned coins and practice on them for a while until I feel comfortable enough to revisit Magnentius.

Here's an "after" picture you can see there's very little change except the bit of patina I lost just above the "A" in Magnentius.

[Ghengis_Jon]

Patience will be amply rewarded with this coin.  I think the reverse will turn out absolutely awesome.

[Holding_History]

Yes! do not rush it! Now that you are at this point you should carefully finish. I would have left it as it was though.

[Matt Inglima]

I would have left it as it was though.

Yes, Nathan, you're right, the sandy bits have darkened to the same degree as the patina and the coin lost the contrast seen in the first picture.  I also wish I'd left it as it. 

[mwilson603]

I would have left it as it was though.

Yes, Nathan, you're right, the sandy bits have darkened to the same degree as the patina and the coin lost the contrast seen in the first picture.  I also wish I'd left it as it. 

I think that you are being too hard on yourself.  The contrast was almost completely gone on the obverse, and ended badly towards the top right on the reverse.  What you now have is an unfinished cleaning project, and as with many unfinished cleaning projects it looks worse now than when you started.  However, once finished that reverse will be incredible.
It is a shame that there appears to be some small pock-marks that look like some old BD that had expired underneath the sandy patina, however, I don't think that they detract from the coin, and at least now you could keep an eye on the coin to ensure that BD doesn't return.
regards
Mark

[Ghengis_Jon]

Put that coin away for a year until you've honed your skills.  Then S-L-O-W-L-Y tackle the cleaning.  That coin will be fabulous and you'll have no regrets in the wait.   

Of course, if you want to get rid of that dirty old unwanted coin, I have a shiny new highly desireable nickel...

[Holding_History]

I have a nice shiny silver quarter!