how do i clean my hammered silver

[woodchrism]

found my first silver hammered yesterday and just wondered how you guys clean them many thx

[Chef Geoff]

Was it the way you asked?  . No I guess they couldn't answer it
OK well the correct answer that all purists and FLO's would want to hear is "Don't" But I'n reality most of us want to see some sort of improvement on the quality of what comes out of the ground. On occasions this can be down to a simple wash in soap and water and a gentle rub with a soft cloth but usually the coin will have built up a layer of black silver sulphide which will need some extra help in coming off.
Before you start cleaning be sure that the coin needs it and is not in fact going to look worse. The gentlest, easiest  and most common method is simply to wet the coin and wrap it in silver paper, now rub your fingers over it  and you should notice that it begins to heat up, this is purely a chemical reaction and is normal. Try not to rub the silver paper across the coin as if it were sandpaper, by rubbing the silver paper you are simply alternating the contact points on the coin.
After only 30 seconds you should, if you peel pack some of the foil, notice a rather strong smell of eggs which is simply the sulphur being released from the surface.
The effect that most people seek is to keep the black sulphide in the recesses between the lettering and other details while cleaning the high points of the details, which will usually make everything easier to see.
The end effect is a result of a backwards type of niello process where for thousands of years smiths added sulphide to etched items to bring out the detail.


PS
Oh and if it looks too clean, pop it in bleach which will turn it black and you can start again, but if anyone asks, I didn't tell you that bit

[DEADLOCK]

Cheers chef will do that when i get my hammy 

[relichunting]

The silver foil method is fine for very common hammered, never try it on any valuable coin though.

Another method which can be quite good for cleaning hammered and removing black crud of Roman silver coins is

Put the coin to be cleaned in a container, Mix some lemon juice and olive oil and add it to the container, gently heat the solution

After around 10 minuets the black crud will start to float to the surface

I find this method quite good for Roman silver coins

[woodchrism]

thanks guys your help is much appreciated will try later and will post before and after pics thx again woodchrism

[Techony]

thanks guys your help is much appreciated will try later and will post before and after pics thx again woodchrism

I do hope that you've either had it ID'd as worthless already or that I'm not too late in saying don't do anything until you have!!!

NEVER use anything other than water on a coin of value.

[rjm]

I think Geoff's post says it all.

This business of not cleaning coins is, in my opinion, generally a lot of cobblers. Hammered coins were gleaming
silver when they were made...........and they were not worthless then! They have gone black from centuries in the soil with animal urine and other chemicals reacting with them.

If a coin is black, I personally would get little enjoyment from looking at it.

As Geoff said, they are probably best when the recesses are left 'dirty' showing up the detail more.

As said, they can always be made 'dirty' again........if that's the way YOU want to enjoy them.

I've heard it said that you shouldn't clean artefacts. Well, the Staffs hoard hasn't been left dirty. It's all been
cleaned so that it can be enjoyed more.

Works of art get cleaned as do other valuable things.

Where I would agree about not cleaning is when a copper coin (usually pennies) have a green patina.
They do look nice and are best left uncleaned. In fact, cleaning them will usually take them back to a bright copper colour which isn't very appealing.

I have cleaned Georgian cartwheel pennies that have been in a terrible state (no patina) with little detail to be seen.
After hard cleaning with copper polish and a brush they have come up a lovely gold / coppery colour that, in my opinion, are very appealing. But again, a bit of dirt has been left in the recesses.

In my collection I have left some hammered coins as found, and compared to those cleaned, they don't appeal
very much.

[duggypuggy]

Should the container be of steel,aluminium or other metal.
Thanks.

[Techony]

Bob,

Its far simpler than how YOU or I like the look of our coins. Its down to the value. If a coin has any value, then excessive cleaning and removing of natural patina will destroy that value in a collector's eye, and we are talking about coins here, not artefacts. You or I may think differently to the collecting world, but thats how it is and talking about it isn't going to change it.

If on the other hand, a coin is of a common type and poor quality, then cleaning it isn't going to hurt any now is it.

When someone asks how to clean a coin, I don't think the best answer is to tell them how I like to see MY coins, but rather to err on the side of caution and ensure that they find out what it is before they do anything they might regret later.

[rjm]

I don't see a black hammered coin as patina! 

[Techony]

http://www.rarebritishcoins.co.uk/how-to-clean-old-coins/how-to-clean-rare-old-coins/

http://www.predecimal.com/cleaningcoins.php

http://reviews.ebay.co.uk/Cleaning-Coins-Why-Not-amp-How-To-If-You-Feel-You-Must_W0QQugidZ10000000001677130

[relichunting]

Should the container be of steel,aluminium or other metal.
Thanks.

I just use an old saucepan or you can use a hotplate of a coffee maker

here is a good link about cleaning coins

http://www.colchestertreasurehunting.co.uk/C/cleaning.htm

[duggypuggy]

Thank you "relichunting" for your reply.