My Roman coin fell apart when I tried to clean it with distilled water

I soaked this 3rd-century antoninianus from a field in Kent for about 20 minutes and the whole patina just sloughed off like soggy cereal, so has anyone else had a coin disintegrate on them with basic cleaning methods?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy99618d ago

The Kent soil is basically battery acid for ancient bronze. Antoniniani from that region often have a compromised core where the silver wash has completely decayed, leaving the bronze super brittle. 20 minutes in distilled water is way too long for a coin with active bronze disease or a flaky patina. Most detectorists I know stick to a max of 3-5 minutes with a soft brush, and even then only if the coin looks solid. That "soggy cereal" effect usually means the coin was already falling apart internally before you touched it.

cameron_chen6318d ago

Yeah that "soggy cereal" bit is too real, I've had bronzes turn into green mush just by looking at them wrong.