Anyone know how to clean Roman Coins?

Answer 1

DO NOT CLEAN YOUR COINS!!!! In the eyes of true numismatists this lowers the potential value of your coin. Most coin shops/collectors will not buy a coin that has been cleaned. Anything you use on the coin could be potentially harmful to it.

If there is surface dirt you could try soaking it in a bit of warm water to see if it will come off - absolutely no scrubbing!

You could also try a pure acetone bath - but I would recommend just leaving it as is!

Answer 2

You can try a soft tooth brush to get rid of the surface dirt. You need to notice if it is just dirt or did the minerals in that dirt actually eat into the coin. If so just brush it up the best you can. If the coin is a rare one leave it alone, but if a common bronze one an brushing doesn't really do it, you can boil it in water with a little vinegar. Then put in a bath of water and baking powder to neutralize the acid. that should take off a lot of the harder deposits. They say olive oil can be used but it really takes months to work. Most ancient coin have been cleaned, no matter what anyone says. There are exceptions though. I have to clean my Chinese cash coins from time to time.