Welcome Oliver,
Just to add a few warnings/comments. Beware what many say in their marketing.
A "
hoard" is a group of coins that were deposited together in ancient times. In many cases they are all of the same size/denomination and all from a few short years though there are exceptions. But in any event a large group that includes Greek,
Roman,
Provincial,
Nabataean,
Judaean,
Islamic and
Byzantine is not/not a
hoard. That is a group of coins found by a detectorist or a group of detectorists and sold together. True
hoards on the market are
rare.
Secondly, uncleaned coins are rarely truly uncleaned. Likewise claims of unpicked coins are rarely true. It may mean that the seller did not
pick through them but that does not mean that others before they got them did not. Even fully dirt covered coins where you can't see any details will have been picked over as the finders sort out larger ones, etc.
Often entire large groups are "washed" early in the supply chain either in water or in chemicals to remove the soft dirt and more and to reveal details. This allows them to be easily picked through but also damages the patinas.
This relates to the images you posted on your other
thread. Those coins appear to have been pre-washed. What remains is a mix of bare metal - though darkened - and flaky tan
patina and thicker, crustier, porous green that is/was the
patina. Maybe in their original state (fresh from the
field) more of the
patina could have been saved but maybe not - many end up like this anyway. In any event they are not hopeless coins. It just means that you should clean them without worrying about retaining the original
patina as little is left. You should focus on removing stuff that obscures the design while not harming or
scratching the metal itself. You could end up with a bright shiny coin that will darken naturally over time or that you can artificially darken one day. However, if you have revealed the design and can then identify it that will be
fine. With a coin in this state you should mainly think of how you can improve what you got.
I have to agree with others that the better way to build up a
collection is to buy cleaned coins - cleaned but unsorted or unattributed are the best deal. But that said I also love the cleaning of uncleaned coins - the challenge, the surprise, the sense of "ownership" you get with a coin you have cleaned and revealed yourself.
Definitely check out Joe's uncleaned lotss
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/catalog/roman-and-greek-coins.asp?vpar=869&pos=0#Uncleaned%20Coins and consider the uncleaned coin contest too.
Good luck.
Shawn