Could this be cleaned?

[vs1969]

Could this coin be cleaned or it is safer to leave it as is?
It seems to have some detail left underneath this black thick substance, at least on obverse.

[ionutbd]

clearly the original patina isnt do good preserved - in fact is very damaged. So, you can try to complete remove it and repatinate the coin...or, if you likeit, leave it as it is

[vs1969]

Thank you for your suggestions. What bothers me is that it seems in the part of the reverse (top left) some metal has been corroded away (the coin is not yet in my hands so this is only a guess, will see more after it arrives). That's why - I think - it is quite underweight - under 20g with 34mm diameter. So it is difficult to say what would be revealed there if the patina was completely eliminated.

[Tony A]

Unfortunately many of this type are in a similar condition unless you pay handsomely for them. I'm not sure if more cleaning beyond a DW soak and gentle brushing won't do much more than reveal a lot of pits.

Tony

[SC]

The stuff it would be great to clean off is the dark gunk around Nero's face and the reverse design.  However, I doubt it will disappear with DW or Gringott's.  Maybe I am wrong and it is soft-ish gunk, but it appears to be a very very hard kind of stuff.  If it is hard then I would not risk attempting to clean it with scalpel either - too much danger of damage.  Personally I would leave it as is.

Shawn

[vs1969]

Thanks for all replies. I will definitely try DW soaking and maybe Gringott of the mildest kind and if nothing happens, leave it alone. Actually for now (judging by pictures) I am quite happy with it as is as surely in this price segment the only alternatives are coins with the face corroded and ugly. And this one is at least completely attributable (RIC 571 - the obverse legend is 95% readable). Maybe it will look better in hand, though the pictures of this dealer are usually very realistic.

Just to be curious: what could be the origin of this black stuff? From the pictures, it looks like some kind of tar or similar substance.

[vs1969]

The coin has been arrived, it definitely looks better in hand than on the pictures (much darker tone and much higher relief on the obverse than the picture suggests, and the reverse figures do not look distorted), so I am quite happy with it and will leave it as is. And yes, somebody tried to clean it but stopped before going deeper.