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 Replies: 12 / Views: 1,579 |
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New Member
United Kingdom
6 Posts |
Hi everyone, I have just gotton a metal detector from a friend and I found a good few coins from 1899-1950s but this sparked my enthusiasm and I now want to start a more ancient collection so I decided to choose a roman themed collection. I would be looking to just get a random mix of coins and see where that goes. My main question is about uncleaned coins for sale on ebay. Are they a good idea or are they generally a bad idea? I don't mind the cleaning as I want to learn that process too. Cheers everyone :-) |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
513 Posts |
If you're trying to learn about coins and find cleaning them fun and accept that you're almost certainly not going to find anything worth more than you paid for it then it's a good idea. Read up on how to do it first though. ebay lots are mostly misses but you can get uncleaned lots other places. Dirty old coins has worked out for me alright; they're pricey but you'll probably get identifiable coins. Don't go hog wild buying supplies to clean coins just yet. All you really need to get started is a cut down toothbrush and a container to put water in. A magnifying stand and connected light are very helpful too. |
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New Member
 United Kingdom
6 Posts |
Yeah I like the idea of cleaning the coins and kindov making them my own. Yeah I have a toothbrush but I didn't really know ita better to trim it down. Ill do that thanks :-).
Looking at uncleaned coins I fully understand that there will be a lot if not all of the coins being of very low value. Looking at sales I would be looking to spend about 50pence for each uncleaned coin and I would also avoid low grade coins as I think they wouldn't contribute anything to a collection.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
513 Posts |
If my understanding of British money is correct 50 pence per coin is probably going to net you a lot of completely unidentifiable coins, or heavily encrusted ones that will take forever to clean and will still be tough to ID. You'll be much better off in my opinion buying fewer, higher quality coins (in the $2-$5 each region) because your rate of identifiable coins will be much higher.
My real basic way for cleaning them (which is enough on most decent uncleaned coins) is as follows. If at any point you're happy with the results you can stop there.
When they arrive wash off any dirt with running water and a paper towel. Then start scrubbing them with the cut down toothbrush under the running water.
Once the papertowel is coming back mostly clean fill a small dish with distilled water (important that it is distilled; you want as little mineral/chemical content as possible) and plunk the coins in. I like to add some TSP (it's a brand of powdered soap) as well but I can't say whether it makes a huge difference. Cover the dish so the water doesn't evaporate out.
Wait as long as you're able, at least a week, and pull the coins back out. Scrub them some more with the brush, clean your dish, fill it back up and dunk them again. If you're still not happy with the results you may need a longer soak; up to a couple months.
After that it's just repeat until satisfied. Many people use olive oil to soak their coins in and I do sometimes as well, but it tends to darken the coin which isn't always what you want. Test it out on a couple culls to see for yourself.
Edited by chuy1530
06/27/2015 5:31 pm
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New Member
United Kingdom
6 Posts |
Oh wow thanks for that long and great response. Yeah I have very little knowledge about all this so your reply is much appreciated. Your advice about spending that bit more sounds like very sound advice that I think I will do.
Also thank you so much for your cleaning advice. When I aquire my first coins and try cleaning them I shall let you know how I get on.
ThanKs again :-)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
513 Posts |
If you need any help IDing coins once you get them clean feel free to post them, the folks here are very helpful :)
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Pillar of the Community
Spain
629 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
3626 Posts |
If you click on my ebay link and can send me a message, I will send you a few to get you started. |
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
 to the community. First I would recommend that you read through the sticky section titled Books, Downloads and Websites. You will find a great deal of information that will help you starting an Ancient coin collection. If you want to try cleaning coins ebay is a good source to find uncleaned lots. Most of the coins in these lots are very low grade and are late Roman bronzes (LRB). A good seller of better uncleaned coins can be found at Dirty Old coins for example. http://www.dirtyoldcoins.com/ |
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Valued Member
Germany
83 Posts |
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New Member
United Kingdom
6 Posts |
Thanks everyone. I want to get some coins alongside getting a book or two so I have my own coins to look up which will help me learn better. Pishpash that would be absolutely amazing. I have sent you a little message :-). Also Mascot that looks like a great cleaning book.
Thanks everyone for all this support :-)
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Pillar of the Community
United States
549 Posts |
I recommend you visit a local coin dealer and find out when there will be a local or regional coin show. You will find more junk coins at good prices at a show than you will on ebay. You might connect up with others who know more about ancient coins than you do. Many collector and detectorists love to help. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4964 Posts |
some good advice here, nothing to add other than |
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Replies: 12 / Views: 1,579 |
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Posted 06/27/2015 4:57 pm
