Cleaning advice for old bronzes

[Nathaniel N2]

I recently acquired a few early imperial bronzes. The most interesting one to me is the sestertius. They aren't in the best of shape and cleaning looks to be difficult but I would really like to get them looking as good as possible. Currently I'm thinking of using MSR to restore them.  Looking for suggestions on if I should resort to MSR or go for something stronger, or do something else entirely.

[PMah]

When in doubt, do not clean.

[Nathaniel N2]

Umm... yes that does make sense. That said, there isn't much to lose on these coins it would seem. That's why I'm looking for advice on how I might get something good out of them.

[JamesC11]

 The simplest and easiest method with Roman bronze: take one of your smaller coins in hand and gently massage it between thumb and fingers--stop when you develop carpal tunnel syndrome.  Roman bronze is generally quite hard and you won't wear it out.  The mild acid excreted by your fingertips acts to clean the surface and the oil with which we leave fingerprints, deposited on the coin surface, tends to protect the coin from further deterioration (this is why copper pennies last so long and wear so well).  It's amazing how this action tends to bring out features previously invisible.  You may be able to distinguish the coins worth further cleaning.  More invasive methods--olive oil, distilled water, chemical baths if you decide to use them, can be left to time and a LOT of patience.

[Nathaniel N2]

I've never thought of just rubbing my fingers on the coins before.

For context, I do a lot of coin cleaning, that's where most of my coins come from. These are the first coins that aren't really dirt covered just degraded as seen in the photos. I think I'll go for the MSR on a few of my smaller similarly pitted small coins and see what I can do before trying it on these big boys. If I could see any kind of image at the end, I 'd consider it a win.

[Josiah Y]

How did this end up? Did the MSR do anything?