What is it about Roman coins......other collectors bag 'em slab 'em, book 'em and mostly isolate them.
I cannot do this with my Roman coins. I try not to screw up the patina by fondling them too much but I also find that I cannot isolate them in a sterile environment. Someting about them that requires touching them. A link with the past perhaps.
I think the fact, in the case of coins that one has cleaned themselves from a group of uncleaneds, at least, that these pieces of metal have
sat in the ground for almost 2,000 years or so and
still exist in a quite
intact condition makes you sort of realize how durable and timeless these things are. This would seem to invite caressing of the coins' deliciously high-relief surfaces moreso, than say, your
collection of frosty
mint 1880s U.S.
morgan dollars.
In short, if the coin survived all that time in the ground, it can't hurt to enjoy touching it a little
bit. (Yes, of course, I know there are exceptions for espescially nice pieces that you don't want to
mar with errant fingerprints).
Mike
