
Curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET

The authoritative public forum
for Metal Finishing 1989-2025

Thread 460/70
Restoring over-cleaned Roman billion/copper coin
2007
My wife returned from the Middle East with two extremely rare (one unpublished) Roman coins. Unfortunately, she cleaned them using an ultrasonic ceaning machine with filtered water and a few drops of lemon juice. This not only removed the sandy concretions on the coins, but also some of the patina.
Is there a way that I can restore the dark patina?
Thanks in advance.
N/A - Tampa, Florida, USA
publicly reply to Duane Tway
The dark patina can be recreated by chemical process similar to sculpture. Our company can provide this product with simple procedures to a quick result. Best

Barry Feinman - Chief Restoration Officer
BarrysRestoreItAll

Carlsbad, California

2007
publicly reply to Barry Feinman
Speaking to a professional conservator produced a reaction of pure horror.
First, it could well be an illegal export but, putting that aside, you have reduced the value significantly by over cleaning.
You could have difficulty in convincing an expert that the coin is genuine.
Re-patinating it makes the situation worse. Now it really looks like a modern fake. The fact that it is 'unpublished' suggests that it already is one.

Geoff Smith
Hampshire, England
2007
publicly reply to Geoff Smith
Q, A, or Comment on THIS thread -or- Start a NEW Thread