Ancient Coin Handling

I got all giddy holding it

Yea....that coin was being use by people about 1800 years ago. Makes you wonder how many people used it and what they bought with it.

Can you read any of the inscription around the edges? I'm not good enough to recognize what it is from the portrait, but if you can read some of the words you can find out what ruler is depicted on it at Wildwinds.com.

Looks like the ruler has a pearled diadem and the reverse a winged victory.

Those are the things that fascinate me with these Roman coins...heck anything ancient(Egyptian, Greek, etc.).

It's smaller than a dime so it's very hard for me to make out the lettering and the listing on ebay where I bought it from is private (no link). Thank you for the Wildwinds link. I will check that out for sure!

As a general rule, ancient coins are much more robust than their modern counterparts. They've survived being buried in the ground for nearly 2000 years, then being dug up again and subsequent washing. You don;t have to worry about leaving fingerprints behind, or accidentally disrupting the lustre - you've got to really abuse them to do any kind of lasting damage. While they're by no means indestructible - ancient bronzes are even more susceptible to outbreaks of bronze disease than a modern bronze or copper coin - it's usually quite safe for them if you hold them in your hands.

Indeed, you're more likely to suffer more from the experience than they will. Some ancient bronzes contain a surprisingly high level of lead. So wash your hands both before and after you handle your ancient coins.

Sel, it's usually sulfur in the paper that's considered detrimental to coins, rather than chlorine.