Crusty coins for my ninety(mumble ahem) yr old mom's birthday gift.

Hi again everyone,
I have been thinking about what to get my mother for her birthday. It is always a challenge coming up with a new and different gift idea for my mom. There are very few things she has not tried and she is not easily impressed. I want to give her something that will excite her and offer her a chance to learn something new. Mom loves antiques and art, small things, robins egg blue things and money. She loves the thrill of chance and is extremely lucky. So for her birthday this year I'm organizing a small box which will contain the following:

six promising (from what I can see) crusty ancient Roman coins
4 oz ancient coin cleaning preparation system
six pair of disposable gloves
2 of those special cleaning pencil-like things (I'll share a pack with her)
a brass brush and a nylon brush
polishing cloth

I like the idea of giving mom a gift that no one else will ever think to give her and one which will excite her when she starts to see what is revealed when the coins are cleaned up. I don't think she ever had anything 2000 years old before.

Is there anything else I should put in the box?

Thanks!

 

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Maybe an inexpensive magnifier.

 

Yes. I am sure she has a loop, but I can send one with a handle. Great idea. Thanks.

 

Half the fun of getting group lots of ancients is identifying them. Not sure how much extra you are prepared to spend but a few suggestions.

Calipers - prices from around $5 for plastic ones to $25ish for decent digital ones on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Calipers/b?ie=UTF8&node=256411011

Scale - maybe $10 to $30 on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_0_6?k=scale+coins&sprefix=scale+

Reference book? For Roman Imperial I really like Encyclodedia of Roman Imperial Coins (ERIC). I think it's a nice one for beginners too.

The first edition is free online and the second edition I think was around $70 for me but I would need to look back to confirm that.

 

Wonderful suggestions, Curtisimo. The calipers, for sure and a little ruler, too. The scale is a nice touch. Makes it very complete and handy. Then she can find a little sunny place to set up. That will put me around 125$ (and I still have to get one other thing she asked for) postage - $150. Okay. It's Mom. I hope she won't regift it. Mom loves to regift - but 2000 year old moolah??! .

Then if she sticks with it (I sound like a parent) we can think about the book!)