Looks like an old coin?

[Mr. Green]

Hello everyone.

Today I found what looks like a copper coin. I found it at about 7 inches, in an abandoned field. It's exactly 3cm in diameter, and is quite heavy. There are absolutely no visible markings of any kind, and as you can see the coin itself is covered with a thin layer of dirt which cannot be washed away. It's important you know that I'm from Eastern Europe. I think that this could potentially be something very old. Please inspect the pictures and tell me what you think. Also, I would be very grateful for any suggestions as to how to proceed and clean this coin so as not to damage it and reveal any markings it may have.

Best wishes!

 

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[Alchemy]

First, welcome to the forum!

Looks like you may have found what they call an "uncleaned ancient roman coin"
That's what they look like when they're dug up.

People find these and soak them in an oil of some type (like olive oil) to get the harden crust to soften up a bit (well, maybe not soften it up, but separate it from the coin)...so they can get that crust off and see what type of coin they have.
That's "one" way of cleaning them. I'm sure some others here have different or other suggestions on how to get that hardened crust off of it.

Neat find. I wish I could go to EU and detect some ancient coins!

 

[Cobalt*Blue]

Welcome! I have had some luck cleaning ancient coins using the Distilled Water Method. Place the coin in a small dish and cover with the distilled water. Change the water every day. After about a week, gently bush with a tooth brush and evaluate if the concretion is being removed. If you have positive results continue the soaks. This is a slow but safe approach to cleaning. hh blue

 

[CRUSADER]

No cleaning is going to help that one.

It looks to be a worn Roman Sestertius (due to its size) of the mid 2nd Century AD.

Keep checking that field, it rare to find just 1 roman coin.

 

[Mr. Green]

Thank you all for the warm welcome and valuable input.

Since this is my first find of this kind I decided that I could be a bit hasty just this once. So I soaked it in olive oil for several hours and dislodged some of the crust with fingernails. A faint silhoutte appeared on one side of the coin...



I also boiled it for about 5 minutes and dipped it alternately in hot/cold water several times - I don't think that was a very good idea though - seemed pretty severe.

So next I decided to use electrolysis (I understand that this is procedure is often frowned upon) but this coin seemed to be really worn out anyway... So now the patina is gone, and because of that the face is not so easily discernable anymore, there are a couple of letters also.

It would be very easy to search the field in question - I'll be sure to go through every square foot and will post future finds.

 

[CRUSADER]

Thank you all for the warm welcome and valuable input.

Since this is my first find of this kind I decided that I could be a bit hasty just this once. So I soaked it in olive oil for several hours and dislodged some of the crust with fingernails. A faint silhoutte appeared on one side of the coin...




I also boiled it for about 5 minutes and dipped it alternately in hot/cold water several times - I don't think that was a very good idea though - seemed pretty severe.

So next I decided to use electrolysis (I understand that this is procedure is often frowned upon) but this coin seemed to be really worn out anyway... So now the patina is gone, and because of that the face is not so easily discernable anymore, there are a couple of letters also.

It would be very easy to search the field in question - I'll be sure to go through every square foot and will post future finds.

I can now see it is definately a 1st-2nd century Roman coin.

 

[Harry_Morant]

Since you're experimenting with cleaning methods soak it (may need weeks not hours) and then use a wooden toothpick - it won't scratch the metal.

 

[Mr. Green]

Thank you Crusader for the ID!
Probably in the next ten days or so I'll have the oppurtunity to search more thoroughly the place in question. Will definitely post the new finds - hopefully they'll be in much better condition.

Surely I'll be very very careful from now on regarding cleaning of such coins/artefacts - hopefully I'll just find a sealed pot filled with mint condition

 

[CRUSADER]

Thank you Crusader for the ID!
Probably in the next ten days or so I'll have the oppurtunity to search more thoroughly the place in question. Will definitely post the new finds - hopefully they'll be in much better condition.

Surely I'll be very very careful from now on regarding cleaning of such coins/artefacts - hopefully I'll just find a sealed pot filled with mint condition

Personally I won't worry about what you did to this coin, nothing can make a worn blank coin look any better. As you say, you need to search carefully & find one in nice condition (then only clean with water & then either of the below if needed). In my soil I have to find nearly 50 bad ones to every 1 good one!

The only thing I use on Roman Bronzes coins are:
Black Boot polish or
Renaissance Wax - Micro-Crystalline Wax Polish - Museum quality.

 

[Silver Searcher]

Thank you Crusader for the ID!
Probably in the next ten days or so I'll have the oppurtunity to search more thoroughly the place in question. Will definitely post the new finds - hopefully they'll be in much better condition.

Surely I'll be very very careful from now on regarding cleaning of such coins/artefacts - hopefully I'll just find a sealed pot filled with mint condition

Personally I won't worry about what you did to this coin, nothing can make a worn blank coin look any better. As you say, you need to search carefully & find one in nice condition (then only clean with water & then either of the below if needed). In my soil I have to find nearly 50 bad ones to every 1 good one!

The only thing I use on Roman Bronzes coins are:
Black Boot polish or
Renaissance Wax - Micro-Crystalline Wax Polish - Museum quality.

Welcome to the Net looks like a coin of Vespasian get the dremmel on it

 

[Mr. Green]

Hello Silver Searcher!

I took a look at a Vespasian - I'm no expert, but the nose/chin/neck/lips look different? Кnfortunately besides the silhouette there seems to be nothing left on this one.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...tius_-_Vespasiano_-_Iudaea_Capta-RIC_0424.jpg

Hope to find better ones in a few days!

 

[Mr. Green]

I went several times to detect in this field, but didn't find any more coins! This one looks like a loner.
Did dig up several arrow blades several feet away from the coin.

We came to the conclusion that someone was killed and robbed there, they missed this one coin. Interesting this happened axactly on the same spot 1800 years ago!

We also found this a few hundred feet away - could be more recent. To me it looks like part of the decoration of a horse - what do you think? It's about 3 inches long (8 cm).