Hey guys, A while ago I purchased a lot of uncleaned ancients from a site called crustyromans. They sell by weight, this being to reassure the buyer that they haven't been sorted through by them (even though they almost definitely have been sorted through by previous hands, as with all uncleaned ancients). Although the majority still need further cleaning. I've taken pictures of the ones that are finished with being cleaned and some that are still being cleaned but are somewhat promising/interesting. There are still loads of coins left to clean, of which 60-70% are identifiable, so this is just a small sample. My goal with these coins isn't to get the best quality, but rather a nice quantity of history. Within this lot are quite a lot of noticeable Judean's, Roman's, Greek's, Islamic's and more. Feel free to help me with the identification of some of the unidentified ones, and please tell me if you think it was worth the buy? Although I'm not too bothered I'd like to know if I lost/turned profit on these coins (even though not all are clean yet). It cost me $150, from looking on ebay I'm pretty sure some of the nicer ones have paid it off? But I honestly have no true idea of the value of these coins. I need to know whether it will be better to buy from somewhere else next time. Thanks, Nastiest ones first, best till last. (Sorry the picture has come out so small, can't seem to make it bigger at the moment..)
I see some decent coins in there, but can you post much bigger pics? I enjoy attributing coins, but not when I have to strain my eyes for the details. As far as their worth goes, if you were sufficiently entertained by cleaning the coins and revealing their mysteries, and learning of their history, I would say you got your $150 worth.
Tried to save time doing it like this, I think I've fixed it a bit, you can read the stuff on the side to get an idea.
i'm interested in that little ae4 campgate on the top right, i need one of those for my collection. isn't that a nabatean coin bottom right JA?
Diskouri ? Are they related to the separation of the early Christian church during the reign of the divided Roman Empire under Emperor Theodosius ? That would be a very interesting and possibly rare coin . I guess I'm not mistaken.. Charles
Not quite - they are Castor and Pollux, ancient Greek gods. They are featured on the coinage of a number of Greek types. Here's an example from Ake Ptolemais...
Wow thanks or ID'ing this one for me, really like this one. The cornucopiae seems to be depicted on a lot of the coins I have in this lot, a bunch of Greeks/Judeans I have are depicting it. What was it with the ancients and cornucopiaes?
Well, I didn't exactly ID your coin. Is that a cornucopia on the reverse? As I said, a number of different types exhibit the Dioskouri. A coin of Ake Ptolemais is just one possibility.
Most ancient coins are found encrusted with dirt or other gunk and so actually need careful cleaning, so they can be identified. Soaking them in distilled water or olive oil then brushing/picking at them are two methods to clean them.
Some people use pretty harsh methods such as acidic chemicals and electrolysis, but I prefer to do it the safe way with distilled water, toothpicks and a toothbrush.
I put my uncleaned coins into a nylon bag and soak the bag for 3 weeks in lambs urine. Then I rinse the bag in Mountain Dew (diet only, you want to avoid any sugars or carbohydrates) for 45 minutes. I then put the bag with a normal load of towels and run it on the delicate cycle of the laundry making sure I retrieve the bag before the spin cycle. Lay the coins flat to dry to avoid wrinkling. The entire process works better late at night with the only light source from a lava lamp during the drying process.
