Cleaning an antonianus before and after

[john3030]

Ok well i dont usually clean ancient silver coins. I understand a toned coin is more desirable. But this one may have been an exception. There was a blotchy stain on the reverse. On the obverse there was green encrustration.......which got worse over time. I had the coin for like 2 years. I have only cleaned spanish bronze coins in olive oil and experimented cleaning coins with ammonia.

I used an ammonia bath for only 5 minutes. The house hold type from supermarket. A baking soda paste was firstly used for cleaning.....it was very effective.

[john3030]

This is the coin before cleaning in daylight. Notice all the green encrustation in the beard.

[john3030]

Thats the coin cleaned below. Thankfully the stain came out ok and the green encrustation came out. Yes toning is desirable on a coin but i guess not blotchy stains. The green encrustation left after cleaning, well i wont take it any further as a pit would be left. I used baking soda as a mild abrasive. Then ammonia for 5 minutes. Hopefully the coin will now tone evenly over time.

[john3030]

I am happy with the coin now.

[SC]

Nice job!  Looks great now.

So by "household" you mean household strength?  Did you dilute it with water or just pour a bit out of the bottle?

Shawn

[john3030]

Yeah i used the house hold strength ammonia from the supermarket it says on bottle active ingredient 20g/Litre Ammonia. I poured it out the bottle, then used it undiluted. You can try experimenting with less precious coins even modern coins to see how they react. I had an australian $1 coin in ammonia for a week and it ruined the surface metal.

Its all about a bit of experimentation.

[john3030]

Its more about conservation and preservation. Than cleaning