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 Replies: 23 / Views: 3,141 |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
I agree with the others, cleaning a small batch of uncleaned coins is a great way to learn, it can take a long time to do with much patience and as a budding archaeologist you should have plenty of that!
I appreciate that as a student you are on a tight budget. If you see a collection of uncleaned coins that you are interested in bidding for, post a picture or link on the forum and you will get advice as to whether it is a good buy or not.
For cleaning coins, you don't need too much in the way of tools. Plastic tubs for soaking, toothpick (moving up to a scalpel once you are more proficient) a brush (I use a makeup blusher brush) and some form of magnification. You might be able to borrow the University stereo microscopes. You need either distilled water or de-mineralised water for soaking. In the UK de-mineralised water, for car batteries, is cheaper than distilled water.
Once you have cleaned and identified your coin, they need to be kept somewhere safe in a non-pvc flip or envelope.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
477 Posts |
Nice information pishpash, I have a dormant microscope :). Just need some de-mineralised water. I even have a scalpel & pick from the microscope accessories.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
You need to keep those blades sharp. A blunt blade will cause no end of problems.
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
477 Posts |
Will do, I have a blade sharpener. But the scalpel is definitely razor sharp, and the pick is like a needle on a handle. They were for bisecting/dissecting things, so I will disinfect them-then rinse them through some warm water cycles to rid them of any unwanted chemicals.
Thank-you pishpash for the information, it is very useful-and gives my microscope a new lease of life :).
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
Most of the fakes on ebay come from a few people/places. There are large reputable dealers who sell large quantities of ancient coins on ebay. We do have at least one fellow around here who resides in the Netherlands and goes by the moniker 'Dutchgulden' hopefully he will see this and make his talents available to you. The coin you bought is a very nice little Constantine the Great by the way and will give you great enjoyment I am sure. Most Constantines of this type are rather plentiful and you need not worry too much about fakes. There have been some rather gem looking ones popping up of late coming from Eastern Europe. If you post a pic here there are several experts in these types who can give you a quicky opinion. The best rule of thumb is when the coin looks like it was made yesterday you should hesitate a moment as it may have actually been made last week ! With very little effort you will learn how to recognize the types of patina and encrustation which would take much too much effort for someone to fake on a coin selling for only 10-20 euros. When the prices rise to 1000 euros people will spend many 'man' hours to make it look real. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3446 Posts |
By the way your coin appears to have a very pleasing olive green color. This is considered a big plus. Different people have favorite patina colors. Brown Black Green Blue even. This type of patina is much better than bare metal.When cleaning remember bare metal is very bad. Bare metal is acceptable in more modern coins while ancient coins of bronze really should have a protective layer of patination. Like a fine statue in the park it would not look right if it was shiny metal. Fake patina will usually wash away with alcohol or acetone but a thick natural patina is the best condition for a collector.
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Valued Member
 Netherlands
59 Posts |
Thanks everybody - you were all very reassuring. I especially like the tips about cleaning coins too. I will let you all know that turns out. I'm glad to know Constantinian coins are plentiful (which is what I thought based on the huge amount of stuff on ebay) as it's one of my favourite dynasties. Wanted to share with you another lot that I bought, too. It's an expensive hobby - but incredibly fun and hopefully rewarding in knowledge. I was a lot more certain about the legitimacy of these coins based on the sellers reputation and the wear. Hopefully you'll agree that these are pretty nice to start off with, too.  Thanks again! I'm guessing my first collection will start off with Constantinian theme based on the stuff I now have. :) |
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
The coins of Constantine I are the most plentiful out of all Roman coins. On a scale of rarity his coins rank 15609 meaning the most common. This is another nice lot that you picked up they all have nice detail.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1045 Posts |
The Celators in Thessalonica designed bust styles remarkably different than the other mints for coinage during the Constantinian era.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
946 Posts |
 to this hobby Michael. For your budget I would recommend buying Roman coins from Europe, if not The Netherlands, since most of western Europe and even The Netherlands are source countries for finds of Roman coins. On ebay Netherlands you should be able to select in the Search something like "Netherlands only" for example. I have not bought Roman coins from the Americas since 2012. When our " Her Majesties Revenue & Custom" stuck V.A.T. on my single purchase (a very nice AE Follis of Constantius I, bought from member "BiancasDad" ironically) and then Parcel Force wanted money for " Handling Fees" this put me off totally from buying anything from outside the E.U. I realised  that Roman coins can be sourced from source countries, such as England, do not have to pay V.A.T. for even a single coin nor "Handling Fees". It is a shame that the E.U. does these trade tricks to favour their own zone over others, as there are many fine examples of Roman coins in U.S. collections, for example. Starting out in collecting, best to buy "locally". Of course beware of some notorious sellers of fake "ancient" coins. This is the list here of them HERE. To help you out, avoid " Saxbys-Coins", an obscene lot of fakes are sold (shilled) by this seller. Click the "Temple" jpeg, it leads to my ebay sales page. Save / Follow me.  I sometimes have AE's of Constantine and family for sale at reasonable prices, fully attributed. I often post to The Netherlands, it takes under 1 week. Edited by Masis
04/01/2014 6:19 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
4208 Posts |
Not fake, but perhaps tooled, which I think adds value personally as its so tedious and difficult to do.
Those other coins are really nice. And its only expensive if you go to the wrong places...most of my stuff sells for peanuts. If you PM me, ill help you find some cheaper stuff.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
3098 Posts |
It looks fine to me. It's a very common type and the style appears to be authentic. The busts of Constantine differ from mint to mint.
Paul Bulgerin
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Valued Member
United Kingdom
201 Posts |
Masis I assume when you got charged vat and handling fees it was a one off? I have bought around half of my collection from US sellers, usually CNG but others as well and have never had to pay VAT or handling fees on anything I have purchased to date?
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Valued Member
United States
121 Posts |
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Valued Member
Netherlands
59 Posts |
Masis (and all others) thank you for your tips! I'll try to add all your ebay stores mentioned in this topic and regularly look at them. I'd love to try my hand at cleaning dirty coins. Any friendly sellers, perhaps here on this forum? |
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Replies: 23 / Views: 3,141 |
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Posted 04/01/2014 1:16 pm
