Vietnam, Trinh

[Figleaf]

The carton said Canh Hung (1740-1786). Looking for confirmation (reverse looks blank) and advice on cleaning (don't know what material this coin is made of; it is not magnetic). If I had been on my own, I would have used a long bath in olive oil with quarterly sweeps with the glass fiber brush to get the worst off.

Colours are changed to bring out more detail. 600dpi pic available.

Peter

[bgriff99]

Yes it is Canh Hung.   Composition is brass, or leaded bronze, or something in between.   To clean, 9% hydrochloric acid, aka toilet bowl cleaner, and a toothbrush, but there isn't much there more to see.    Did somebody find this along the Thames or something?    One this bad does not normally become a numismatic item.   It's a 50p coin in XF.

[Figleaf]

Very useful tip, Bruce. IIRC, hydrochloric acid is used to clean steel and it is pretty dangerous for mere humans, so I'll settle for toilet bowl cleaner Now that I know it's brass, I have a commercial brass cleaner somewhere that works wonders on piping. Maybe I'll try that - it turns the brass into something pale yellowish - and restore some colour with olive oil.

Not sure where it was found. I found it among the duplicates of a very generous friend. In my collecting life (47 years) I have thrown out less than twenty coins (a few completely worn brass Turks and some Danish zinc coins turning into white powder) and spread collector happiness with many a dog of a coin that was used as a filler or better. This one will be mine until I get a better one, which may well be the rest of my life.

Peter