Here is a coin I purchased for under $10. One of my first individual coin purchases and I absolutely love it. Has this been harshly cleaned as I have seen many examples on this site with very different patinas? I assume it has been.. which is fine. Just wondering your thoughts on this coin and on patinas in general. Maximianus (Siscia) .. still working on a full attribution.. thx
I don't think the cleaning process damaged your coin. Rather I think the environment was the culprit. All-in-all it's a very nice coin and worth more than the price you paid.
Maybe some electrolysis. But if so the person knew what they were doing cause that coin looks pretty saweet to me! Nice score
It was cleaned and possibly brighter copper-colored at one stage, but either it was retoned (maybe with Deller's Darkener) or is retoning by itself in a pleasing manner. Either way it is a nice coin well worth the money.
Sulfur is what causes silver to tone. Some people crush match heads and mix the powder with Vaseline and then smear this mix on harshly cleaned denarii. I don't like these people very much.
That's essentially what Deller's Darkener is, and it can be used on base metals but not typically with good results.
Here we have another example of that old 'opinion' situation. Some of us do not mind the textured surfaces left by harsh cleaning or inhospitable burial while others prefer coins with smooth surfaces that have worn enough that persons disliking 'used' coins will avoid. Most people want perfect coins but the defects we rank as serious and those we tolerate differ. I prefer a little wear with smooth surfaces as on the Constantius I below. That does not mean I don't have quite a few 'textured' coins as well. We also differ on the use of the word 'patina'. Many coins are toned a dark color naturally or using Deller's Darkener but I do not consider that 'patina'. I reserve that term for a thicker, usually colored surface that forms on and in the surface of the coin. Patina can be solid, thick and glossy or scattered and incomplete as shown on the Diocletian below. Removing the green from this coin would be a mistake. Removing a patina wrecks the surface and can not be renewed by rubbing on a darkener. Surfaces are a complex subject I do not pretend to understand as well as I should. Perhaps we should mention that the OP coin and all the large folles of the tetrachy were issued with a silver wash. Some still have all of it; many retain some with bare base metal or patina filling in around the silvered areas. The Galerius below is an example of partially retained silver. Many of us would prefer a coin with all the silvering gone to this patchy look.
I think the OP will eventually tone down quite nicely and I'd definitely pay more than $10 for it. I do always wonder what these cleaned coins looked like before they lost their patinas. These Tetrarchic folles can really look quite different; just as not all that have some remaining silvering look better than those that have lost it all, not all that have patinas look better than those that have had them removed. It's really up to you to take your pick. Here are a few that I think demonstrate a fair variety of appearances these can take. Maximianus. Carthage mint. Galerius. London mint. Constantius I. Ticinum mint. Diocletian. Rome mint. Maximianus. Aquileia mint. Maxentius. Ostia mint. Severus II. Antioch mint. Galerius. Cyzicus mint. Diocletian. Carthage mint. Actually, I have to say, I like them all!
I have one with an interesting, mottled patina: Galerius (Maximian) Bronze Nummus Ticinum mint, A.D. 295-296 Obv: MAXIMIANVS NOB CAES Rev: GEONI POPV-LI ROMANI - Genius, modius on head, naked but for chlamys hanging from shoulder, holding patera and cornucopiae ST in exergue RIC 30b 28mm, 9.9g. And I have one that's still fully silvered: Maximinus II ("Daia") Bronze Nummus Antioch mint, A.D. 312 Obv: IMP C GAL VAL MAXIMINVS P F AVG Rev: GENIO AVGVSTI - Genius, modius on head, naked but for chlamys hanging from shoulder, holding head of Sol and cornucopiae ANT in exergue; [star] in left field, S in right RIC 164b 22mm, 4.7g. I noticed that I spelt mine name wrong in the watermark of the above coin. That's kind of embarrassing.
I am going to leave my coin as is - I really like the look of it.. What about these re-patina product I have seen online? seems I love them all - fantastic examples!
