Suffolk Hoard - initial clean

[mauseus]

Hi,

Finally made a start doing something with the bulk of the Suffolk hoard of >1,000 third century antoniniani. A typical British find many coins are heavily encrusted.

They were sorted into reigns when they arrived plus two "illegible" bags; illegible Gallic and illegible unknown. I thought I'd make a start with the 116 illegible unknown, cleaning to an extent that an identification could be made, rather than a total clean.

The result is that 99% can be attributed to emperor and most to type/issue (even though some encrustation remains) which bodes well.

Before and after type photos are attached below.

Regards,

Mauseus

[whitetd49]

Wow, though Gallis issues are not my focus area, I find myself envious of your opportunity to explore a decent size hoard.  Enjoy!  Please continue to keep us posted.

[Marius]

Hi Mauseus,
This is very interesting to get to see the process of cleaning and identifying the hoard.  How did you clean these coins?  And thanks for sharing the experience with everyone here.
Richard

[Pscipio]

Nice work, Rich, there seem to be several nice coins in this hoard, though many are, as usual, not in the best state of preservation and struck on crude flans.

Lars

[Claven2]

I'm guessing there are some much nicer examples in the groups that were easily identifiable?  Even so, that is a decent result for a bunch of crusties  

Given the volume, are you chemically cleaning them?

[mauseus]

Hi,

The unidentifieables bag is the only one touched so far and yes I'm chemically cleaning. A "gentle" lye solution with glycerin, followed by a boiling in washing soda with good brushings after each of the two treatments.

As I said above, most of the unidentifiables, rejected by the person who did the initial sort, are now identifiable and with a reasonable colour and surface.

The identifiables are encruseted but not quite to the same degree as the ones above (ie you can work out, without cleaninig, who the emperor is and often the reverse type). There are some that require no treatment other than a good brushing. British soils are harsh on Roman coins of this period. The Victorinus "identifiable" portion is below uncleaned.

Don't know how to tackle the identifiables yet. I know the British Museum's approach is to use a 20% formic acid solution but that seems too harsh. A friend uses 10% but even then I don't like the idea of acid.

Regards,

Mauseus

[mauseus]

Hi,

Not wanting to bore people but, rather keeping you posted on the hoard. I've been working on the bag marked 'Barbs' today and, whilst it contained some official coins (particularly Rome mint Claudius & Gallienus) it also contained some good barbs. There may be some die links to check for and will post those later.

Out of the crud emerged this little gem. A Victorinus copy, Spes reverse with garbled legend and a very healthy layer of silvering, particularly on the reverse - very pleased  .

Regards,

Mauseus

[jbaran]

Please...this is no bore.  I'm sure I am not the only one here green with envy at being able to play with a hoard.  Please keep us up to date...start a blog...hook up a webcam...hire someone to follow you around and take pictures

This is great stuff!

Joe

[Robert_Brenchley]

It's extremely frustrating for me since if my internet connection hadn't crashed at the crucial moment I'd have had a smaller hoard from the same period myself a while back! Snarl!

[mauseus]

Hi Joe,

I'd thought of a "blog" and was already starting it as you replied. Thanks for the encouragement, very appreciated.

The blog is at https://www.forumancientcoins.com/lateromancoinage/suffolk/suffolk.htm

Robert, I lost a very cheap Magnia Urbica through a poor internet connection - very frustrating!

Regards,

Mauseus

[mauseus]

Hi,

I've been cleaning the Gallienus coins and updated the blog on my website with some more images of the Gallienus finds.

Regards,

Mauseus

[leetoone]

At the annual Christmas Do of the Yorkshire branch of the Forum Discussion Board, Mauseus weighs in with the Suffolk Hoard. Completely outdoing the other members in terms of quantity if not quality!

Mauseus on the left and Adrianus on the right.

Next year we intend to invite any other members who can make it to York to join us for this annual gathering.

[leetoone]

And here's the full set of the Yorkshire Branch. Me in the middle. 

[mauseus]

Hi,

Glad you enjoyed seeing the progress on the hoard and some "gems" that haven't been posted yet.


You two both brought a number of items I would have hapilly mugged you for. I think we can all conclude it's been a good year.

We must have another get together soon; all welcome.

Regards,

Mauseus