If you do a search on Vcoins or Ebay for Pontos, you see a TON of coins that are cleaned down to the bronze, a much higher percentage than other coins. Does anybody have any idea why this is?
You run into the same problem with Indian coins. It seems in some parts of the world it part culture and part lack of education on proper cleaning and conservation techniques. In some place copper does not survive well, either through the use of chemical fertilizers and or acidic/ brackish environments. I would suspect eastern Europe would fit into that category. In India they actually have a holiday where everything in the home is cleaned to a polish, this includes the coins. It was also popular in the last 18/19th century in the US and UK to have the servants polish the silver, and this included coins. You will find many US and British silver coins that have been cleaned in the most heinous of ways.
I think it has more to do with the particular copper alloys used in those northern Black sea cities. The fabric itself seems to resist corrosion better than many contemporary bronze alloys. Perhaps a Pontos AE (may not really be "AE"; high copper) subjected to the same cleaning regimen as a, say, Tracian bronze produces an "overcleaned" look on the Pontos. Edited to add this article about northern Black Sea coin metal: http://www.pontos.dk/publications/books/bss-9-files/bss-9-14-smekalova
That seems pretty reasonable, especially since I feel like I see it more often with certain issues. I actually don't think it looks too terrible, especially if you're playing the this-was-spent-by-a-real-person-way-back-when game.
