Well it looks like I'm going to be starting a new hobby. Some time ago I was gifted a Severen Denarius and I put it up for a while. At the time I was mostly collecting militaria so financial difficulties caused me to have to sell off most of my collection. I stumbled upon the coin recently and decided that since I'm now in much better financial shape it's time for me to get back to my collecting habit. Since I'm not exactly in a ton of money yet and I'll probably be buying some uncleaned coins to get started and to kill some time. Seems to be the easiest way to get a little bit familiar with ancient coins in general andhelp me decide which direction I want to go in in the future. Does anybody have a list of tools that I should purchase beforehand and a source of decent enough uncleaned coins?
For late roman bronzes - distilled water, toothbrush, dental pick, some toothpicks. Don't go for the olive oil bath as it browns the coins. Also plain old soap and water.
I used to get them from crustyromans.com by the half-kilo, so about 200 coins in each lot. But they are no longer operating. Ebay is probably the go to place for bulk lots these days.
"Due to recent changes in EU legislation, it is nearly impossible to purchase coins ethically now. We don't believe in supplying coins unethically, therefore, we have decided to no longer trade. We would like to thank you for all of your custom. Happy Hunting." I took a look at their website and this is what it said.
@Pascucci91 I would start at this great thread on CoinTalk for New Collectors... has everything you need to get started: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-coins-beginners’-faq-thread.324858/
The heyday of cleaning uncleaned ancient coins is long behind us, but there are still some options out there. One is eBay. My recommendation is to buy only lots where the seller shows the exact coins you are buying, like these: Avoid buying from sellers that show a photo of 1,000 and say they will send coins randomly picked from the pile, like these: Another low-cost option is to buy cleaned coins. Late Roman bronzes (LRBs) are a great way begin collecting ancients. They are very affordable and represent and important period in Roman history.
To ancient coin hunter's list I would add the following: Basic tools - bamboo skewers (they are usually stronger than toothpicks), an x-acto knife for sharpening them, and a good light source (lamp or seat by the window). Advanced tools - when you are ready, I would add a good blade system (either x-acto knife with the rounded blade or a scalpel with blades - can easily be had on eBay), plus a whetstone for keeping it sharp, plus magnification (there are some lamps with magnifying glass built in, but I found wearing magnifier headband - aka Optivisor headband - to be easier to use). Finally, buy your uncleaned coins carefully. A large number of the "uncleaned coins" being sold today are not truly uncleaned. They have been cleaned - usually in bulk chemical or electrolysis treatment - there are remnants of dirt left but often lots of bare metal or worse damaged surfaces. A few of these are OK to practice on - though if they are not true uncleaned you can't really practice all cleaning skills - but other than that you want to pay a bit more for better quality ones. SC
