Hey everyone. First post. I thought it'd be fun to buy some dirty ancient coins, clean them up and then identify how old they were and where they came from. The joy would be in discovering who or what was on the coins under the dirt and stuff. So I purchased 100 coins for $100.00. I've soaked them in distilled water for a few weeks, taking them out now and then to brush them with an old toothbrush and change the water. After doing some research, it looks like all of them are in very poor/worn condition and are unidentifiable but I've been able to identify a few: Constantinopolis 333-334, Constantin II 324-325, Divus Claudius II 266, Constantine The Great 307-337, Gallienus Antoninianus 260-268 and Allectus 287-296. All of the coins look better when they're wet and appear dirty and illegible when dry. The reason for this post is the identification of one of the better coins. I think it's Valentinian 364-375 with Victory on the reverse holding a wreath. Let me know what you think. I apologize for the poor photo quality. I took a bunch and those are the best. I may have ruined it with cleaning but I can't imagine it was worth anything beforehand. Here the coin is after soaking two days and then being brushed with the toothbrush: Here is the coin after soaking a week or so with periodic toothbrush scrubbing. There's a bump on the reverse just above the "A" that I was sure was a chunk of dirt so I scrubbed and scrubbed it until realizing it's part of the coin and I'd rubbed off some of the patina (whoops):
Cleaned up very nicely. You are correct that it is Valentinian. Obverse inscription should be D N VALENTINI-ANVS P F AVG. I remember this obverse inscription because I, too, used to clean and try to ID uncleaned ancient coins--that's how I got started in the hobby--and one of my first coins was similar to yours but with the left half of the inscription off the flan, so all I could see was "ANVS P F AVG." I remember thinking, "Well, that's not very flattering." Reverse inscription is SECVRITAS REI-PVBLICAE. I can't make out the mint mark from your photo. Did you really score an Allectus? That's a great find!
Not a bad find! The exposed bronze will darken up on its own in a few months with exposure to air. Distilled water plus toothbrush is the safest method. Hard to do much harm. I use bamboo skewers and such to clean up details like letters. There are many arcane tricks but it is good to start safe.
If that's a good one then I'm sure I've misidentified it. It's in really bad shape, as are most of them. Here are some pictures: I thought it was Allectus on the front and Laetitia holding a wreath. When it's wet and held at an angle under a magnifying glass it resembled one I found on Google images. Now that I look at it, maybe it's Tetricus I with Spes on the reverse?? I'm gonna throw it back in to be soaked and brushed more.
You can improve the cleaning power of your toothbrushes by cutting the bristles shorter. They also make special nylon cleaning brushes that have stiffer bristles than toothbrushes. Cutting the bristles on either kind to half their length gives them more ability to clean without damaging the coin. It looks like there is more detail there under the dirt that you can expose on your suspected Allectus. For stubborn dirt and encrustations, using a soft brass bristle brush can be effective without damaging a bronze coin. It is important to use brass bristles because they are softer than bronze. The bristles look very gold in color. Keeping the coin wet while brushing helps cushion and lubricate the bristles for less chance of damage. I usually brush coins in a small, flat bottom Tupperware container to contain the dirt and distilled water. If the patina is loose and flaky then this could remove it completely. Some ancient coins are very porous and soft and I would not clean these with either type of brush. I would not cut the bristles shorter on a brass brush, just on a nylon one. You can use brass to get the outer layers of dirt off and then switch to nylon for a more gentle approach. Never use a brass brush on a silver or (unthinkable!) gold coin. They will leave major scratches. Forget using olive oil, it never cleaned better than distilled water for me and can discolor or ruin the patina. I wasted six months soaking coins in olive oil while learning to clean and it never did anything good. That was my experience anyway. Cleaning ancient coins is a fun process of discovery for some people and not so appealing to others. Finding good coins to clean is often hit or miss.
Try UBER(I)TAS AVG. I see no help on the obverse. The clue is the purse made from a goat udder. https://www.acsearch.info/search.ht...s=1¤cy=usd&thesaurus=1&order=0&company=
That coin is amazing smojo. Beautiful. I don't know if it's wet or is coated in that wax I've seen for sale or if it's just that awesome but it's shiny. Theodosius, thanks for all the assistance and pointers. I'm pretty sure I'll ruin several before I'm done and that every gold coin on the planet is safe from my hands. What I was taking for a wreath WAS a goat udder purse. Thanks Doug. You, sir, have a great eye. Thanks for the help. You guys are all good. I'll see if I can't clean some more and identify them better. I didn't want to come on here saying what's this?, what's this?, what's this?.... so I tried identifying them on my own. It looks like the coins and I need a little work.
