Cleaning silver denarius

[Marcus Lepidus]

To clean silver denarius first i use acetic acid, and then toothpaste and toothbrush, and finally wash with soap and water. Is this ok?

[casata137ec]

I do not know about the acid, but I do know that toothpaste contains abraisives that will scratch the flan. these scratches may not be visible to the naked eye, but under a loupe they are. On higher end coins this may detract on price so I avoid it.

Chris

[areich]

Sounds like a good way to produce overcleaned and ugly coins. It's a shame, especially when whole hoards are cleaned this harshly.

[Marcus Lepidus]

Yes, looks too bright and shiny. Only one i cleaned like that and no more. Thank you

[benito]

For overcleaned AR I offer again my recipe .
For  toning ( including iridescence once you get the
feeling)the natural way,no chemistry. Eggs contain sulphur.
EGGS. Fried,poached,hard boiled,omelette.... or your favorite recipee.
May I recommend eggs Mornay,serves 24 denarii or 10 Tetras.
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 3/4 cups milk
3/4 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sherry
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper
12 eggs
buttered bread crumbs
chopped fresh parsley
Preparation:
In a medium saucepan over low, melt butter; stir in flour. Continue
to cook and stir for 1 minute; add chicken broth. Stirring
constantly, add milk gradually. Continue cooking and stirring until
thickened. Stir in cheeses, sherry, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir
until cheese is melted; add salt and pepper to taste. Hard cook eggs
in shells; shell while still warm; place in a shallow baking dish.
Surround eggs with the sauce and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake at
300° until heated through. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley before
serving.
Before dinner,separate enough number of eggs and introduce the coins until they are well covered. If you are afraid of scratches you can eliminate the bread crumbs.

[areich]

It will still have that ugly scratched surface and there's no fix for that.

[benito]

Do you mean after my eggs Mornay treatment. It is true it will not solve the problem of scratches but it will tone a carefully cleaned or overcleaned coin.

[Marcus Lepidus]

ok ok i get it

[renegade3220]

Benito is serius about the eggs. The sulfur will retone the coin. Have to be careful or it will just come out black though.

[areich]

I know it will tone the coin. But the surfaces will never be ok again once you overclean a silver coin. It really hurts seeing obvious hoards (like those Boiotian staters at the moment) being harshly cleaned for a quick profit.

[benito]

Well. Have a nice soup with acetic acid and spaghetti. If you don't like eggs try lobster.

[renegade3220]

Sorry, areich that comment was for the original poster. I know you know

[benito]

I know it will tone the coin. But the surfaces will never be ok again once you overclean a silver coin. It really hurts seeing obvious hoards (like those Boiotian staters at the moment) being harshly cleaned for a quick profit.

I agree that coins should be never harshly cleaned ( in particular if its for a quick profit). But overcleaning can be different from harsh cleaning. In any case its a question of semantics  and the egg method can retone the harshest cleaned AR coin or the most delicately cleaned one. As the outlaw  wrote you have to be careful with the timing.

[marrk]

benito, here's a recipe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi3P8pYob_E&feature=related

[benito]

AAGGGHHHHH. I can see you are a collector of crappy LRBs ,comparing the hardboiled egg of a Russian крестьянин  ( serf ) with the sauce of Philippe, duc de Mornay . 

[nogoodnicksleft]

How about this method of getting rid of tanish on silver coins which is posted on you tube ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp62AvR7kFM

Is this going to damage the coin ?

[David Atherton]

How about this method of getting rid of tanish on silver coins which is posted on you tube ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp62AvR7kFM

Is this going to damage the coin ?

Removing the so called tarnish (patina or toning) from an ancient silver coin is taboo in the ancient coin collecting world. Toning is what most collectors want on ancient silver, not a bright and shiny coin. I prefer a darkly toned denarius over a newly cleaned one.

Reading that someone would use acids on a denarius....((shudders))

[nogoodnicksleft]

Removing the so called tarnish (patina or toning) from an ancient silver coin is taboo in the ancient coin collecting world. Toning is what most collectors want on ancient silver, not a bright and shiny coin. I prefer a darkly toned denarius over a newly cleaned one.

Why is this the case? is it just aethestic's or is there an actual good reason behind it?

[renegade3220]

Removing the so called tarnish (patina or toning) from an ancient silver coin is taboo in the ancient coin collecting world. Toning is what most collectors want on ancient silver, not a bright and shiny coin. I prefer a darkly toned denarius over a newly cleaned one.

Why is this the case? is it just aethestic's or is there an actual good reason behind it?

Same reason why you don't remove  any patina from an old object. Takes away the "oldness".

It room time for that to happen naturally and is part of the history and attraction of that item. I'm sure it stems from aethestics partly but also from the fact that it is inherently part of the coin.

That is my view on it.

[Dracma]

cleaning is an art