Of course you can clean them. It's just a matter of how. For shit's sake, museums strip off patinas on purpose! And they even may do it via electrolysis.
And your using Lye..... Sorry Mr. Professional, I must be confused as the company I work for deals in pieces valued at $35,000+ your $2 eBay bought second hand coins definitely show your knowledge and expertise with working on artifacts. We have our own archeologists, digs and handle products for private collectors, but yeah I'm the dumb one.
No, you're just a troll. I call troll because you obviously did NOT read the whole thread. If you did, you would have seen that in page 2 I mentioned that I cleaned the newer coins the right way and stopped with the lye. And you're really ignorant because buying TWO DOLLAR coins on ebay is ENCOURAGED for beginners to learn on. We're NOT dealing with $35,000+ shit. Also, I hope you're a real troll, because a real person getting this offended off of someone's FIRST 3 coins is rather pathetic, doncha think? Mmmmkay? Uggh. I think I stepped in troll shit.
Yeah, from what I've learned so far I'll never touch lye and only use electrolysis when dealing with a coin that's otherwise junk.
First off page 2 starts on post 41 for me.... secondly once I read retarded shit from a poster I just assume that they will continue in that path. I must have been raised differently than you... I was taught if your going to do something do it right whether your dealing a $40k mummy or a $2 coin. Practice does't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.
You calling my shit retarded like you did (in that context) is like me saying you're retarded for falling when you first tried to walk. IT'S INEVITABLE. BEGINNERS MAKE MISTAKES. Holy fucking shit over here. I can't believe I'm arguing with you.
There were 6 emperors with Constantine or Constans as part of their reign name. It gets sort of confusing because there was a split into 2 roman empires, eastern and western. There is a list of roman emperors on wiki. You are having serious fun =) Next you should considering working an actual dig some vacation =)
Thanks for the info. And yeah! The thought has actually crossed my mind to go to Europe and find a dig spot. But there's no guarantee I would even find anything - there's so much land to search with a metal detector. Oh but how cool it would be do dig them up myself and clean them as well!
how would you recommend i clean these? might buy one or two to say i own some history hehe. nice find
Lol I use lye for things not related to cleaning, who would clean a coin with that dangerous corrosive shit? What your doing is really cool though, it seems almost too good to be true... buy coins for 2 bucks and clean them off, resell for mass profits? I'll definitely check into this though, it sounds neat to clean off ancient coins yourself and collect them, the money's a plus.
No, you can go to work on a professional archeologists dig as a volunteer. Good for getting experience if you keep at it. You tend to start with basic hauling dirt, and perhaps working on a rocker box sifting for stuff like pottery sherds, coins, stuff like that. Sometimes you might be tasked with cleaning - with many things it is simply rinsing off in water and gentle brushing with a soft brush to basically wash off the dirt. Anything more than that is done by someone with restoration experience. If you have been on a couple digs with the group, you might get taught to do more advanced stuff. Linked above is a whole bunch of links some in the US, some in Europe, stuff available all over. In general you will have to provide your own plane ticket there and back, most you get nothing more than food and a tent, I think that occasionally if you have actual experience you might get a tiny stipend - but in general it is volunteer slave labor =)
haha my apologies you explained how on page 3 that I skipped over. Lye seems a little strange, though, method wise. It could do too much damage to something that turns up valuable. I wonder if there's a safer solution to clean them that remains effective.
Well, Lye is a last resort method to clean the coins. It will work, and it may leave the patina intact, but it will discolor the patina. There could be other bad things it does as well... I think it's ok to clean a Crusty (just what the name implies - a coin that is crusted up) with lye - leaving it in the lye for minutes at a time and then checking it and toothbrushing it. For the last 2 batches of coins, I stayed away from the Lye and the Electrolysis; I cleaned them the right way. There's something on Ebay called the "Eurotool". I paid like $15 for it. It has a nylon brush (which does shit), a soft brass bristle brush (my favorite fucking weapon), and a fiberglass attachment (this thing is the tits as well). But that brass brush is serious. I cleaned my coins and was able to leave the patina intact. But it wears out quick.
So I just found out that you can order uncleaned Roman RINGS! I just ordered one for $15. That's gonna be fucking SWEET. I'm gonna wear a 1700 year-old ring. Who knows who the fuck wore that shit!!!! Pics when I get it.
Oh shit, that's cool. I left about 10 of my coins in olive oil for a week. It really worked well on a couple of them, didn't do shit to the others. I'm thinking buying low quality coins like this is just a waste of money. I'm reading online, and most people are saying you should be paying about 2 bucks a coin for decent ones. Getting low grade ones just lands you a disc of cement.
Yeah, man. Those fucking crusties are something serious. I had one that had an encrustation on it (not the whole coin) and I busted my ass getting that shit off. I mean, I spent HOURS scrubbing it with a soft brass bristle brush. It's was literally harder than concrete and as hard as limestone - if that's not what it was. Unfortunately I blasted off the patina where the encrustation was. Check it out in the pics. It's of the Emperor Claudius - around 250 CE But yeah, so the olive oil worked on some. That's cool. I didn't have the patience for that, so I just got Gringgott's #2. It's only like $8 and it works very well (not so much on crusties). How much did you spend each for yours? I haven't gone lower than $2 a coin and even then 1/3 or so are slugs or just beyond cleaning. I saw a site (the one where I got the ring) where it's $40 for 10. Now THAT'S what I'm talking about. They're a reputable dealer and if they're $4 each - they have to be good. Any pics of anything? Edit - the image on the left of the first pic - the coin is upside down. Check out that encrustation!!!!!!
I must be way more stoned then I imagined to have just read through so many pages of coin collecting stuff