What tools for what jobs?
Let’s cover the basics.
- There is no one tool for all coins.
- All Tools are situational
- Only use abrasive and hard tools when required.
Distilled Water
Distilled water is great and safe for soaking ancient bronze coins. Most crusty ancient coins should soak in a glass jar for weeks if not months before you try to mechanically remove anything.
Patience is key. The coin spent a millennia entombed in dirt. Give a few weeks in the water.
You can find this at your local grocery store.
Bamboo Skewers
Yes, really. You can get these at your local Grocery store.
After distilled water soaking, very often any old Bamboo Skewer can dislodge dirt without causing any damage to the coin.
Bamboo Skewers
Andres Pencils
Made in France specifically for cleaning artifacts dug out of the ground covered in 2 thousand years of solid deposits, these are purpose built harsh abrasive tools that are useful to have in your back pocket.
Like other Abrasive and Harsh tools in this list, Andres Pencils should be used sparingly and with the understanding that they will scratch and smooth your coin if you use them incorrectly.
They are situational.
“I use Andre’s pencils to remove small patches of raised deposits, expose the high points of legends on specific coins or very lightly in a field to remove specific types of dirt without harming the patina.”
50 year expert of cleaning coins
Diamond Tipped Pin Tool
