I recently finished cleaning a beautiful
Antoninianus of Avrelianvs. The trick is to be patient. If the
silvering is just barely holding on there, just wax it and put it away, you won't make it any better by trying, I messed up a coin or two trying otherwise. If the
silvering is sound follow the following.
1. Wet the coin with distilled water
2. With a bamboo skewer or toothpick rub the surface gently in circles. Look for dirt to come off.
3. Rinse and repeat until you can't get any more with the toothpick.
4. Using a sewing needle in a
vice, gently rub small circles on a wet coin. Observe each darker spot and gently rub.
5. Repeat until clean.
Optional
6. Use a diamond crusted tool to continue the process. Dirty areas get much darker with DW.
Always keep the coin wet. If silver flakes at all, stop. That
area won't get any better.
7. Finally, you can buff with a fiberglass brush.
Check out my before and after.