Lots of ancient uncleaned coins.... clean them or not? Best way to clean them?

I bought a bunch over a year ago.... I tried the soaking in oil trick. I did get some good results that way but overall none that look as nice as some of the coins I've seen on here or ebay.... so... should I just leave them as dirty coins or should I try some other way to get the crusties off????

 

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I never had any luck purchasing and cleaning uncleaned lots. Usually culls or poor quality coins. If you are interested in collecting and not the cleaning side of the hobby, I would suggest buying cleaned coins that you know you like. Just my opinion.

 

Well... I tried that as well... bought one coin... it had pictures of it that looked really clear.... then I got it in the mail and it was not nearly what the pictures made it look to be. So.... I never bought any others that were already cleaned.... I hate the thought of just throwing all these in a baggie and not trying to bring them back to life.... but I also don't want to damage them by trying to get the crud off.... guess I'm just stuck and not sure what to do with them at this point....

 

The coins themselves are utter crap. If you want to collect ancient coins, this is NOT the way to go. You will find nothing but disappointment in these lots.

That being said, if you are interested in the actual physical process of cleaning them, these lots can be a lot of fun.

 

Well it did start out being fun. Kinda made it a family project with the kids... but now for me it's frustrating. I don't care if the coins themselves are crap.... I just want to be able to see them. Lol. Can't seem to get the crud off to see the details or lack thereof.... :/

 

Here's one that came out alright...

 

A good Fallen Horseman coin from Siscia. He's got a cowboy hat though.. Pretty

 

While I agree with Bing, Ardatirion said it better than I have heard before. We clean with hope just like people buy lottery tickets. You have to realize that most of them will be trash. Once in a while you might get a small time winner and sometimes someone hits the jackpot. It is not the hobby for people who frustrate easily.

Here are the facts: Someone found the coins and sold them to a wholesaler whose job it is to separate the coins into ones he wants to sell as is and those he thinks can be improved and sold as premium items. I was once told that some of these guys can identify the major categories by feel. They know what types of dirt come off easily and what type doesn't. Which group do you think they send out as uncleaned and what type do they send to a professional batch processor to turn lumps into coins?

The 'winner' you show strikes me as worth under $5 retail assuming the other side is equal. Below is a low end cleaned coin I bought for $5.
Julian II

It is a different workshop from yours but both are Siscia mint of the M in reverse field series. I have no idea how many slugs you had to buy to get the winner you show and I have no idea which of the possible emperors in on the obverse of your coin. The other of the two choices is shown below but from the series without the M in the reverse. It was also $5 (same day from same junk box). I had to look at a lot of junky coins to find these two but I did not have to buy them.
Constantius II

Cleaners get the thrill of the hunt by cleaning and have a remote chance of a winner. I get the thrill by sorting through thousands of coins at shows and online but only buy a few that I decide I want. The chance of a winner requires the seller having missed finding it and selling it for more. These are all common 'junk' coins. Which way do you want to get your junk? Bing and I have our answer.

For the coins you already have, we might be able to help more if we saw photos of the candidates. Some will clean just by soaking in water; some will not clean with nuclear weapons.

 

Well I have no idea on the values or what is a winner or not winner. I honestly don't know a lot about ancients. It just began as something to do for fun.... that was over a year ago. Lol. Now I'm trying to decide if I should keep trying or just throw them in a baggie and maybe just concentrate on a couple. Heres another.

 

Is there a site or book with the values of ancients? I know there's a site with pictures but is there any that give you an idea on the values?

 

This is Claudius II with Annona reverse. This one has a chippy edge which would reduce its market value. Condition and eye appeal mean a lot with ancient coins so there is not a large demand for low end coins of common rulers. This is far from the worst I have seen but not the sort of coin that starts fights at sales. Values are largely opinions since there are no 'Red Books' for all varieties of ancients. You can compare what a similar coin brought at a sale listed online but you will never find one exactly like yours and you will never find exactly the set of buyers that showed up for that sale so your coin could bring half or double any price you see without there being anything odd.

I'd not trust any site that proposes to give prices your coins should bring. There are just too many variables. You might enjoy David Vagi's book Coinage and History of the Roman Empire where (vol. 2 page 451) he lumps together common coins of this emperor in VF condition at $5-15 in 1999. Your coin is not good enough to be VF and this is not 1999. Someone would pay $5 for it. $15??? Vagi lists separate (higher) prices for rare or desirable types but does not try to list all the ordinary types.

Compare:
http://www.acsearch.info/search.htm...1&ot=1&images=1&currency=usd&order=0&company=
Name sales and sellers get more for their coins than the rest of us. Notice how terribly varied all these coins are both in condition and price.

 

Like others, I dabbled with uncleaned ancients and discovered it was not my cup of tea. It took forever, and the results were not worth the hassle. I did not find the process of cleaning the least bit entertaining - someone else might, and I salute them.

I prefer to collect higher-grade coins. I prefer to see copious detail. Here is an example of one of my Falling Horseman types. This isn't intended to be oneupsmanship in any way, just giving you an idea of what's out there. You won't find coins like this in uncleaned lots. Unless you take the coins out of the ground yourself, you will not get any truly unsearched uncleaned lots...

 

A friend of mine recently sold this one for what I thought was an exorbitant price. This is oneupmansship. I would really like one this nice without the nick on the cheek or the weak N in the mintmark (each fault worth more than I'd pay for one of these). Maybe someday? Anyone have one nicer?

 

I can't oneup that one - it's one of the best I've seen. But technically, the AE2 version is a different coin. The FH design is quite busy, and fits better on a larger coin.

 

I recognize that photo's background. That seller has several extremely interesting coins I'd love to have but the price tags are... extreme.