Zappers: A Great Cleaner For Your Coins

Toothpaste and a toothbrush make an excellent cleaning combination for touching up your zapped coins. Be sure and purchase the cheaper brands of toothpaste that contains a very fine pumice. Some toothpastes are devoid of pumice. I don't know if one can still buy the canned toothpaste powder but I know it would be excellent for finishing a coin.

In addition, I don't know how one can be sure the toothpaste has a fine pumice but there are still inexpensive brands with the pumice. Perhaps one of our resident chemists will be able to tell us what the pumice ingredient is. I think Dollar Stores would be an excellent source for the cheaper brands.

As for the toothbrush, I like the stiff nylon brush but they are very hard to find. I think the larger "false teeth" brushes are much stiffer. Almost all dentists recommend the soft bristle. One can clip about half the bristles off and get better cleaning results. The shorter bristles make for a stiffer brush. Be sure and give this exercise a try. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Please send feedback and please bookmark my blog.. God Bless.. Jerry..

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A Zapped Tiberius With Lots Of Character

I recently bought a bargain Tiberius from a friend of mine at Common Bronze during a sale they were having. I was very pleased with the coin but Tony, my friend, told me the coin needed more cleaning. After living with the coin for a few hours I decided to heed Tony's advice and stuck the coin in my zapper.

I am quite pleased with the results and I like the character of the coin very much. I think the obverse portrait is great. The coin after being subjected to electrolysis is pictured above. I have a photograph of the obverse before the coin was cleaned. The "before" photograph was pretty much an after though but I am pleased I have it. I think the before and after demonstrates well what one can do using electrolysis. Please click on the following URL to view the before photo: http://tinyurl.com/2cuemt Again, contrast the before with the after you see above.

I repeat as I do on most occassions that I believe electrolysis is the kindest way to clean a coin. I can only imagine what hard tools would have done to this beauty. I used my zapper and my Bamboo stick to clean the coin and would not touch it with anything harder. I also mention that the coin is a bit bright so I am using my Natural Patination process to tone the coin. It should be sufficiently darker in a few days. I will then dip the coin in white vinegar and the coin will be "fixed" as one would fix a photograph. A bit of wax and the coin should remain in great condition.

I extend an open invitation to you to join us at CoinZappers and learn the techniques we teach. We have a great membership as you do here and many of your fellow members are members of CZ. The URL to our group is as follows and just say Jerry invited me: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coinzappers Thank you for reading and I enjoy your input. Please let me know if you want to see the coin after I have finished toning using my Natural Patination process.. God Bless.. Jerry..

One Of My Favorite Anodes

I hope the following illustration I have created will help all you new zappers. In fact, I still consider this to be one of the best anodes I have created for anyone engaging in electrolysis. Please click on the following URL and take a look: http://tinyurl.com/39xu2y The upsides to this anode is that it is easy to make and it works so well. The downside is that it does pick up crust from the encrusted coins and the anode will need to be cleaned periodically.

I have solved the problem by having more than one of the anodes on hand. I can simply lift the "dirty" one from the solution and replace with a clean one. I try to keep at least two clean. The best I recall, one can clean at least a hundred coins before cleaning the anode with soapy water and a good stiff brush. Of course the degree of crust on the coins dictates the cleaning intervals.

If you are not engaged in the Joy of Cleaning Crusties with electrolysis, I invite you to join us at CoinZappers. We have made tremendous strides and are getting wonderful results. I extend an open invitation to all. Our URL to CoinZappers is as follows: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/coinzappers Please join us and if you have any questions you need answered about the process simply ask your question and send me your e-mail address. We have put to bed the old stigmas attached to cleaning with electrolysis. However, if you have heard any negatives I will enlighten you and and I will be as honest as I can be.

I am attaching a couple of URL's of coins I have cleaned using my zapping techniques. Please click on the following: http://tinyurl.com/2cg8cz I am sending another: http://tinyurl.com/33hwnm And one more: http://tinyurl.com/222vno Thank you for looking and I do hope you will join us. I am teaching others about this exciting technique every day.. God Bless.. Jerry..

Should I Lighten The Patina On My Alex?

Please take a look at the coin above. It is an Alexander the Great (III) AR drachm I recently acquired. I love these particular coins but I am not sure the coin is too dark for my taste. Consequently, I am asking my readers for feedback. What do you think? Should the coin be lighter in value or should I leave the "natural" patina as is?

As an aside, I am working on my silver coin photography and I invite feedback on my photograph. Is the negative space too light? Thanks you for looking and God Bless.. Jerry..

Read The Small Print!

Be careful what you buy on EBay! In recent months I have won at least three ancient coins on EBay that turned out to be reproductions or replicas. This happened on three different occasions. I only have myself to blame. After receiving the coins and realizing the coins were replicas I checked the EBay site and sure enough, I found the small print.

I should admit the print really was not that small. I check the ads much more carefully now and I have succeeded in the not repeating the same mistake for the past month. I don't know why I would overlook something so obvious. I guess it it simply because I am expecting the coins to be originals. I wonder if this has happened to you guys on at least one occasion. Perhaps this blurb will help prevent you from making one of my mistake.

Thank you for reading and I would like to know if you have done the same or perhaps something worse! God Bless.. Jerry..

Group Created For Sharing Favorite Dealers

I have created a group on Yahoo Groups for sharing favorite dealers. One of the first things asked by newbies after joining one of my groups is, "where do I find good coins?" I hope we get good participation and input. If the group develops as I think it will, we will be able to point newbies to the group.

Please take a look and please join. Remember, one can always choose to not receive posts. I prefer to receive all posts but that is my choice. The one thing I ask is that members refrain from "flaming." I think we can be open and direct in our adjudication of coins we have bought without going on attack. Please take a look at "Fav Ancient Coin Dealers" at the following URL: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/favancientcoindealers

I will be inviting a mod(s) to help me with the site. If you have suggestions about the site, please write me at: jceaus@yahoo.com Thank you and God Bless.. Jerry..