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What is Patina?
Patina is the antique color or corroded color build up on the coin.
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Colors can be a ruddy orange to a beautiful rust red. Brown, flat
black, different shades of green and so much more. What is it? It is
actually a chemical reaction with the surface of the coin and the
soil the coin was buried in.
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Just being exposed to the air for a
long time causes silver to tarnish and turn black. While silver
coins clean up nice with Tarn-X to reveal its original finish, true
collectors value an original patina. Often removing the patina will
lessen the collectors value.
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When cleaning your coins be careful to
work slowly! Sometimes the patina is the detail! Remove only enough
to attribute the coin or hi-light the image and lettering. From the
point of view of an amateur archeologist the point is to expose the
coin so it can be attributed and some coins just lack detail due to
normal wear in ancient times. Scrubbing a coin to death or using
extreme cleaning measures will not reveal details that are not there
any more. Let the patina tell the coins story and history. It is
still a real ancient coin. To preserve the look you have achieved
after cleaning or to maintain a finish on a purchased coin just rub
with some natural bee's wax. A pinch between your fingers and rub it
into your coin.
More soon!
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