FORVM`s Classical Numismatics Discussion Board
Numismatic and History Discussion Forums => Uncleaned Ancient Coin Discussion Forum => Topic started by: Lee S on May 04, 2013, 05:18:28 am
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Hi Guys,
I received a bunch of large uncleaned romans yesterday, ( a birthday present from my folks in England ) , allegedly metal detector finds from the south of England...
They all have the same powdery green patina under a thin hard layer, then a thin layer of dirt on, ( or no patina at all, only dirt then pitted brass ) , so I believe they could be from the same site, and I have started to send enquiries to see if I can narrow the find area down a little, however I believe that half will clean up to be at least identifiable, and 4 cleaned up without much trouble at all... I just scraped away the brown mud top coating using a dental pick and spit ! then scrubbed gently under the tap, dried and sealed with wax polish...
I wonder if these size / type of coins are normal for UK finds.?
Here is the before photos... The modern coin is a 1 kronar... the same size as an English 10 pence or 1 mm bigger than a US quarter..
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And here are the ones I am happy with so far...
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What a lovely gesture by your family how thoughtful.
I am so pleased that these coins have found a home at last where they will be appreciated +++ +++
The quality of the detector finds in England depend on the type of soil they have been in especially the amount of sprays and additives that have been added to the soil over the years.
I have seen coins dug up in pristine condition just as if they had been lost yesterday and then you get the ones that have been eaten away, sand seems to be the kindest ::)
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Sadly British uncleaned can be among the worst in terms of patina quality. There are obviously some nice ones but for some reason lots of British ones have this powdery surface.
Your lot seems to be of very large coins and is definitely not a normal lot.
Good stuff.
Shawn