Tried cleaning a roman coin with vinegar and really messed it up

I found a small bronze coin at a field dig near Bath last month and thought I'd try the white vinegar trick to clean it. After just 20 minutes the surface started flaking off and I lost all the detail on the emperor's face. Now I know you're supposed to use distilled water and a soft brush at most. Has anyone else ruined a find by cleaning it wrong?

2 comments

2 Comments

simonreed8d ago

Hold on, is it really that big of a deal? Its a common bronze coin from a field dig, not a museum piece. People act like you scratched a gold stater or something. You probably lost a couple bucks of value at most, and now you have a cleaner piece of metal. Focus on the next find instead of crying over this one.

kai_stone998d ago

Yeah but value is value even on cheap coins. A few bucks lost is still a few bucks lost, and some people collect those field digs for the history not the cash. Not everyone's out here flipping finds for profit.