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Tried two different ways to clean some Roman coins I found in a field last spring

I had a batch of about 15 coins from a site in Norfolk, all pretty crusted over. For months, I was just using a soft toothbrush and distilled water, which was very slow and didn't do much. Last week, I tried a short soak in a 5% citric acid solution for just 30 seconds, followed by the brushing. The difference was huge. The acid gently loosened the hard dirt without hurting the metal, and I could finally see details on three of them. It saved me hours of careful picking. Has anyone else had good results with mild acids on copper alloys, or is there a better method you like?
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2 Comments
grant_gibson
Wait, you just left them in a field for months? @gonzalez.vera might be onto something with the olive oil, but I'm stuck on the part where you had a pile of Roman coins just sitting around.
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gonzalez.vera
Ever try a drop of olive oil for the really stuck bits?
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