Numismatic and History Discussion Forums > Uncleaned Ancient Coin Discussion Forum

Green hard material removal

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Nathaniel N2:
I have a chance to purchase this coin. I am wondering if I have the skills to clean this effectively. I am not worried about the dirt but the green encrustations are a little more interesting. What do you think of them? Should they come off with distilled water soaks and a scalpel or would another treatment be better?

shanxi:
The green material looks like malachite. This can only be removed mechanically.
But I would leave the coin as it is. You can see on the edge that the black patina underneath the green material is not very stable. There are chipped areas. If you do too much you might ruin a very nice coin with a good contrast.

Joe Sermarini:
There is no good reason to remove the green. It will not improve the appearance or value of the coin.

Nathaniel N2:
Sounds good. You are right in that the edge does look pretty chipped. There probably isn't anything to do to this coin.

SC:
I would not even clean the remaining dirt as it provides a nice colour contract to make a beautiful-looking coin.

SC

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