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Tried cleaning an old Roman coin with olive oil like a YouTube video said
I found this bronze coin at a local field near Chester last spring and thought I'd try the whole olive oil soak method I saw online. Let it sit for like 3 days, thinking it would gently lift the dirt off. Instead, the oil just turned into this nasty green sludge and when I wiped it, half the patina came off with it. Learned the hard way that bronze coins from the 3rd century are way more fragile than those videos let on. The coin is basically ruined now, just a blob of metal with a faint outline. Idk, maybe I should have left it alone or asked someone at the local museum first. Has anyone else messed up a find trying to clean it at home?
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elliotadams26d ago
Yeah danielmason is right, I did the exact same thing with a medieval buckle and now it looks like something a cat threw up lol. Distilled water soak for a week did way less damage than my impatient olive oil experiment ever did. My finds drawer is basically a museum of mistakes at this point.
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danielmason26d ago
Leave the olive oil for cooking, not coins. I've done the same thing with a Roman fibula and turned it into a green mess. Distilled water and a soft toothbrush is all you want for most finds, anything tougher needs a pro.
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jennysullivan26d ago
Soft toothbrush? You'll scratch the patina off, try soaking in distilled water for weeks first.
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