Secrets to very light cleaning ?

[superflex]

Hello again,

I need some advice from the veterans on here.
 
I have these two coins, the best uncleaned i have seen so far, and i am not sure how to progress safely. They are posted together as i am not asking about the coin individually, my question goes to the soft cleaning nature required for similar coins. Hope that's okay 

I have been doing soaks daily, with soft brushes with cotton bud ear cleaners, then lightly pecking at dirt with tooth picks.

Should i just continue this process and see how it goes after a month OR start some soapy brushing or even Gringott's ?

And secondly in regards to the soapy brushing what is the best soap to use ?  dish washing detergent ? normal hand washing soap?

I am worried dish washing soap has too much acidity for bronze.

Thanks in advance.

[SC]

Everyone might not agree with me but I would consider the Quintillus as done now.  There might or might not be more that could be cleaned on it but it looks fine as is, it has a nice patina which you don't want to risk damaging, and it is a rarish coin - especially for an uncleaned lot.

As for the camp gate - I would continue your soaks but would go the soap route too.  There should be no harm on a coin in this condition with dish soap - just rinse in DW and then allow to soak in DW (2 steps).

Shawn
 

[Russ]

Hi Superflex and friends,

     Just a word about soap. Years ago, I had a friend who was one of the conservators  of textiles for the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. She worked on ancient Egyptian fabrics and restored 18th century masterpieces, and could tell the difference between 16th century velvet and 19th century... she was an amazing woman. Anyway, the museum used a soap product for washing fine laces and rare fragile cloth - a product called Orvis, it is also used to wash very expensive race horses! It is white in color and has the consistency of between sour cream and coconut oil. It is extremely gentle, thorough, and leaves little, if any, residue. Unfortunately, it is not easy to find.
     Just a thought.
Russ

[superflex]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the tips. Considering I hadn't tried to identify the Quintillus I'm glad it's a good find in an Uncleaned lot. I might just leave that one in DW for a couple of weeks.

With the camp gate I'm curious to see what a warm soapy mixture might achieve, with some light brushing.

Russ I think I found Orvis, sold as Orvus on Amazon ?

Here's the description:


Product Description
Orvus Quilt Soap-8 Ounce. A safe washing concentrate for silk fabrics treasured needlework and quilts. Contains no phosphates. Biodegradable highly concentrated.


Might be a little light for coins but looks good as a very light wash for ancient Fabric, noted 

[SC]

Frankly with these coins regular dishsoap is fine.  I use the dishsoap in regular tap water though you can use DW.  Obviously all rinsing under taps is done with tap water too.  What matters is to then rinse them in DW.

I use a tub (old margarine or yoghurt, etc) of hot tap water with dishsoap and use a toothbrush.  I sometimes rinse under the tap.

Then I dip the coin in a second tub of DW and give it a quick brush with a different toothbrush.  This is to clean the soap and tap water off.

Then I put it to soak in a third tub that has DW in it.

Sorry if I spoilled the surprise re the Quintillus.  But the legend is soooo clear.  I have seven different Quintillus, all from uncleaneds or junk bins, and only one is in the same quality bracket as yours.  The other six are in much worse condition so you should be very proud of that coin.  It is an excellent find and is already well cleaned.

Shawn

[superflex]

Thank you Shawn,

I will make sure to rinse with DW after the soap scrubs.

No need to apologise, I am glad it's a great find ! 

I will be very careful from here on. I have even given it it's own DW container from other bronzes 

I am half way through this lot so i might find another nice surprise, fingers and toes crossed.

I'll post any worthy progress.

[superflex]

Hi again,

Thought i would share the current lot i am working on that the top two came from, this is after a DW soak no soapy brushing yet. A couple of interesting ones.

Please do not comment on cleaning suggestions on the coins individually as i will re post them separately if i need some friendly advice.

Their weights going across are in grams - 2.8, 3.48, 1.77, 2.66, 2.05, 1.06, 3.11, 6.12.

You may spot another nice one, haven't attributed yet i will probably try later today