Numismatic and History Discussion Forums > Uncleaned Ancient Coin Discussion Forum

Marc Antony LEG XXII A tale of two sides

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Ken W2:

Asking for advise about cleaning the obverse of this MA legionary denarius.  Apparently the brownish-rustish-greenish patina and deposits have already been cleaned from the reverse, as you can see some still left in arc shaped scratch.  I’d probably leave it if it was on both sides, but want to clean the obverse and let both sides then evenly tone. 

Thanks in advance for suggestions.

Ron C2:
Lemon juice, short soaks of 1 or 2 minutes until you get there.  Check it regularly.

Ken W2:

Hey Ron. Thanks for the guidance.  Several soaks in lemon juice of 2-5 minutes, prodding with a toothpick and bamboo skewer softened and in water, with just a little careful prodding with a trusty no. 11, produced the result below. Not saying it’s anything great— wish I hadn’t needed to clean at all— but the radical difference between obv. and rev. was too much for me. Also, in THE PROCESS— which is a big thing in Alabama— I learned that a sharped toothpick or bamboo skewer when slurried (wet and softened) produces good results, kinda like the second or third pour into a slurry of bourbon and ice :).
Thanks again.

Jay GT4:
Great improvement Ken.

Ron C2:
That looks a lot better. Now it will tone evenly.

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