I've been cleaning old coins all wrong and it took a museum sign to show me

I was at the local history museum last weekend, looking at a display of Roman coins they dug up nearby. The sign next to them said something like 'surface corrosion can hold key details.' I always thought making an old coin shiny was the goal, you know? I'd find a crusty old wheat penny in the garden and give it a scrub with baking soda. But that sign made me stop. I realized I was probably scrubbing away the very history I wanted to see. That green stuff isn't just dirt, it's the coin's story. Now I feel bad for all those coins I 'cleaned' over the years. Has anyone else had a moment like this, where you realized a common practice in your hobby was actually damaging the stuff you care about?

3 comments

3 Comments

davis.adam23d ago

Oh man, I did the same thing with old tools. Now I just use a dry brush to get the loose dirt off and leave the rest alone.

gibson.sarah23d ago

Wait, you just leave the rest of the dirt on there, @davis.adam? That old grime and grease feels like part of the tool's story to me. I could never just let it sit like that.

ryan36922d ago

Totally, that patina is earned history.