Ancient Coin Cleaning Resource

Here are your cleaning instructions for your uncleaned unsearched Ancient Coins. First, your satisfaction is our top priority if you have any questions or concerns regarding your order please email and let us know.

Your Treasure Hunt is here and now the fun begins!
Attn: When you clean the coins remember that your goal is to remove the dirt not reduce the coins to bare metal. Make sure you don’t damage the patina. A coin with the patina in tact is worth a lot more. Also keep in mind that these coins can have 2000 years of caked on dirt up to 1mm thick. Although some coins may show some detail uncleaned, most will take a serious cleaning and soaking before being able to assess what is actually there. We cant promise that every coin will have incredible detail because they come to us uncleaned just as dug up from Europe and can have over 2000 years of caked on dirt up to 1mm thick but we do the best we can to give you the most detailed coins as we can. They are not cherry picked or sorted through but divided up as equally as possible

Patina
Patina is corrosion usually green in color and forms due to oxidation. Patina takes centuries to form and helps the coins from further corrosion due to the elements.
Patina can also appear in other colors and shades. Silver can also develop patina. It is called toning. Toning can appear in shades of light to dark gray. So if you have a toned silver coin leave the toning in tact for it makes the coin more valuable.

Cleaning Techniques
Soap and Water
First clean your coins with soap and water. Fill a container with soap and water add the coins and swirl the container until the water is dirty. Also use a toothbrush and lightly scrub. Repeat process until satisfied, then rinse and dry.

Soak in Distilled Water
You can also soak the coins in Distilled Water anywhere from 3 hours to 3 days. Also use a toothbrush and lightly scrub. When the coins stop getting cleaner you may want to move to another cleaning method.

Olive Oil
Place coins in a glass and fill it with Olive Oil until coins are covered. Leave them in the Olive Oil for 3-4 days. Olive Oil penetrates and softens the dirt. After soaking pat dry. Then mix up a batch of TSP (Tri Sodium Phosphate, commonly found in Paint and Home Repair Shops) with one Teaspoon of warm water. Place coins in the solution for 5- 10 minutes. This should remove the Olive Oil and some dirt. Also use a toothbrush and lightly scrub. If results are not as desired repeat process.

Finishing the Details
To remove dirt between the letters and inscriptions toothpicks and dental tools can be helpful. You can also use a glue gun the kind that uses glue sticks. Put a glob of glue on the coin, let dry and remove. This method can remove dirt from evan the tiniest area.

Identification and History:
These coins were dug up in modern day Europe. Ancient Coins were struck by hand so no 2 coins are exactly alike. Because there were no banks at the time coins were buried especially by solders before they went to war.

There could be 3 types of Ancient Coins in your order. Roman Coins that could be anywhere from 1500-2000 years old, Greek Coins that are at least 2000 years old or older and Byzantine Coins
from the Byzantine Empire that would be at least 1400 years old. Generally Greek Coins are more valuable because of the age, then Byzantine Coins and then Roman. Byzantine also struck cup coins that look cupped. These coins can also be valuable.

For Identification the” Handbook of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins” by Zander H. Klawans is the guide to get for identifying Ancient Coins.