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 Replies: 11 / Views: 1,328 |
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Pillar of the Community
Poland
3201 Posts |
The thread started by dd27 about identifying cleaned coins based on photos only reminded me of these:       They are all being sold by the same seller (although not all coins sold by the said seller look like this). You can see these copper coins have dark toning but seem to also have a dull/soft shine to them. My question is - what could be the reason for it? The coins weren't photographed in slabs or 2x2s so it's not that. Could they have been dipped in something? Buffed? Both? Would you stay away from them? |
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5174 Posts |
As I've said before, a good deal of the supply for 19th century Russian copper is metal detecting finds. (Though the examples here might be too high grade for that.) I'm pretty sure I've seen a similar dull brown shine on many coins that were obviously metal detecting finds treated in some way.
I'll snatch the Alex III 1/2 kopek if it's cheap enough (it probably isn't) and stay away from all the others - I don't think they're rare (correct me if I'm wrong), the dull brown look is weird, and I have the types already.
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Pillar of the Community
 Poland
3201 Posts |
Well... feel free to snatch it at $68 + $27 shipping  The thing is, I cannot see any porosity which would suggest them being metal detecting finds. Perhaps they weren't finds, but were treated in some way regardless. That's what I'd like to find out. |
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Pillar of the Community
Norway
1358 Posts |
It might also be the light used: it's sharp, direct light from the right of the object under quite an angle: something I won't recommend to do. It's best to have a lot of light, but indirect light when making photographs of coins, is my experience, also to avoid strange effects like this might be.
Anyway, I agree that these pics aren't the best in the world. The coins look like a very proper grade, but I don't dare to say if they're cleaned or not.
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Pillar of the Community
Russian Federation
5174 Posts |
Quote:Well... feel free to snatch it at $68 + $27 shipping That's about an order of magnitude more than I expected, and about two orders of magnitude more than I meant by "cheap". |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
I don't know anything about those and due to that I'd just pass on buying them.
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Pillar of the Community
Poland
3201 Posts |
UltraRant, yes the details on them are often above average, there's relatively little to no damage.
But the uniform look is strange, despite the coins being from the same country and era.
One could always say that they were originally part of the same old collection, so they toned in a similar way, then they were photographed at the same time in the same conditions.
Or can that be caused by a poor lighting choice as well?
And yes, I know the easiest way to find out would be to buy one cheap coin and see for yourself...
Edited by DL20K
08/08/2016 3:25 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Norway
1358 Posts |
I never suggested to buy any of these coins... I used to be an avid amateur photographer (even got some pics at an exhibition once) and as such, I know that good light makes more than half the picture. For coins, I recommend a lot of (indirect) diffuse light. I really think the person who made these photographs really did a lousy job. And as such, I'm not sure if the weird shine comes from the coins being cleaned or just from the horrible composition.  And for those who wonder why my photos around here are scarce and of amateur quality: I don't have access to the fantastic camera anymore and I also lack a proper camera stand for coin photography. I now have to do with my own private Nikon SLR... Edited by UltraRant
08/09/2016 04:22 am
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Pillar of the Community
Poland
3201 Posts |
Of course, you did not suggest to buy them. I just wanted to point that out before anyone makes a "buy one and find out" post  And if they were within the price range that january1may mentioned, it wouldn't actually be that bad of an idea. Edited by DL20K
08/09/2016 05:43 am
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Pillar of the Community
Australia
3831 Posts |
There has been a recent flood of super counterfeits and Russian copper coins are no exception. I have to be honest - I cannot tell.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
19961 Posts |
They don't look cleaned to me. I don't know anything about the series but they look good. A couple of them appear to have had oil used on them.
Lincoln Cent Lover!VERDI-CARE™ INVENTOR https://verdi.care/
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Pillar of the Community
Poland
3201 Posts |
Quote:
A couple of them appear to have had oil used on them. In a way, that's the answer I didn't want to hear... In other words, that was my initial impression of what they looked like. |
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Replies: 11 / Views: 1,328 |
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Posted 08/08/2016 06:46 am
