I have a question about the responsibility/liability of an auction house when they sell an ancient coin that has been smoothed or tooled and they do not point that fact out in their description. Some auction houses make a point of noting that a coin has been manipulated in some way to make it more attractive; some do not. If I buy a coin at auction and no mention is made of smoothing or tooling and I then try to have it graded by a TPG service, what if it comes back with a note that it has been smoothed or tooled? It is obviously worth less with that notation. Is there any recourse as far as the responsibility of the auction house I bought it from for not disclosing a complete and honest description? Shouldn't they be aware that a coin has been manipulated?
Honest dealers WILL note that in the description. Almost all dealers have an "inquire about this lot" button in the auction listing and I would certainly notify them of your concerns, even if you're not bidding on that particular lot.
I've noticed a couple of major auction houses have lately been avoiding using the word "tooling." Instead they're referring to it as "details lightly strengthened."
Its a disturbing trend in the world of ancient coin collecting. Smoothing has always been somewhat accepted, but tooling was not. However things change. Tooling is now very common just about everywhere and most major auction houses have sold them. I do not. In find them unacceptable. So, will an auction house take one back? One will never know until they try to return one. In all my years I have only bought one tooled coin, but I knew what it was when I bid on the lot. The best way around the situation is to ask each auction house what they would do in the situation. If they wont take a tooled coin back, dont bid.
As far as responsibility/liability of an auction house selling you a retouched coin: It's going to be hard, if not impossible to bring an action against a European auction house. I would focus on return policies. The real problem here, for me, is that people seem to really like tooled coins. They will pay extra for them. If you point out to them that they are buying tooled coins they won't believe you and are likely to get mad. Never mind they have coins struck a century apart with unusually similar styles. One thing I have noticed is that some auction houses employ artists with a recognizable style. I don't envision them employing rooms full of workers drilling away on coins. It's usually one or two guys. They often have tells. The way the ribbons at the back of Caesars neck twist around. The rendering of eyes, lips, and hair. Some can't resist going too far to show off their skills.
Is the tooling at auction houses still mainly restricted to the higher end, as with the Vespasian Judaea Capta that was shown here some time ago? Or is it found at all levels? I’d love to see some more examples to learn from, but most of what I see online are either very high end coins, or extremely poorly done. I have my suspicions about many I see, however.
In ancient coins tooling is generally restricted to Roman sestertii as well as bronze coins of Pantikapaion as well as the Kingdom of the Bosporus. There are probably other areas as well such as the aes coins of Greek Sicily. With Roman sestertii, the problem is the greatest in the first two centuries and less so in the third. The problem increases with rare emperors and those coins with desirable reverses. Tooling has been going on for over 400 years, and so some of these coins may have the patina that comes with age. My main problem with the craft is that they may damage or modify what was actually on the coin.
There are actually a lot of tooled LRB's floating around. Below are some of my favorites; but these are terribly tooled. More skillfully tooled LRB's can be very deceptive. note the smile on Constantine-- the coin on the left has what looks like a football helmet...compare with original on right. mintmark of ROMA-- somebody thought the shoulder was a shield and negraved VOT V on it--
I feel compelled to add to this thread based on a coin just spotted. The obverse picture at left, below, is from a major, well respected auction house's current listing. The coin is a sadly-brutalized very rare variant of a Sellwood 48.14 diobol of the Parthian King Orodes II. (One of possibly only five known specimens with a reverse Mithradatkart mint monogram) The listing contains no mention of the rarity based on the mint (in fact that listing states, erroneously, that Ekbatana is the mint) - and, much more disturbing, no mention of the abuse the coin has been subjected to. For comparison I show it, below, next to one from my collection. As hard as this may be to believe, I think these may be from the same obverse die.
Those are remarkable Victor—collectible in their own right, though the toolers still get paid. That ROMA mintmark makes the mint painfully clear. LOL.
It isn't restricted to Judaea Capta coins. However, it is prevalent with them because they are in high demand and fetch premium prices. In that thread almost every high quality example posted was tooled and/or smoothed, as @Barry Murphy pointed out: Choosing low grade coins with honest wear in high demand categories may be the only way to be assured of no smoothing or tooling, especially since some auction houses omit the information. Otherwise, be sure to exam the coin in hand.
I fail to see how low grade coins are protection since there would be plenty of profit changing high demand G-VG coins into F. We probably look more carefully at EF. Not every half rotten slug is suitable to be tooled into a complete gem but plenty of market for identifiable and decent looking JUDAEA CAPTA for example. I would love to see the coins we ID as tooled both before and after they were 'upgraded'. I once was told that the Julia Domna sestertius below was a rare item because the reverse type was also used by Manlia Scantilla and many of these have been converted. Whether that is true or just a tale, I can not say. People who do this work have not posted videos of themselves at work on YouTube.
Of course you are correct. Not all low grade coins (F or below) are enhancement free. I do think they are more likely to be so than the EF specimens in those high demand categories. And I agree, it would be very instructive to see the tooled and smoothed coins before and after!
Don't let anyone tell you that tooling silver is not a thing. I found out the hard way. Same obverse die before and after tooling. I returned the coin and it later resurfaced without the tooling disclosed. And another example, same coin. Before tooling. After tooling. Notice the mint mark changed. The tooler didn't know the EPHE mint mark is not consistent with that obverse legend! Ceres was also given a facelift.
I feel compelled to respond here, although I decided not to respond to BM's earlier post, but it has been reposted so it requires setting the record straight. My Judaea Capta sestertius (I incorrectly typed "denarius" in my original post) is most assuredly NOT tooled. BM's opinion about my coin is, well, BM. It is uninformed by any personal inspection of the coin, and the implication about its being epoxied is ignorant in the extreme; in fact, its ignorance is bewildering for an individual who claims to have some expertise and competence in ancient coins. Here's more information about my acquisition and my coin's background: My dealer is Steve Rubinger. Steve is the dealer whom Mike Gasvoda effusively praised in the NAC catalog 94, Part II, starting on page 7; Steve guided Mike to collecting his $10M+ collection of ancient coins, including one of the most spectacular and significant collections of Twelve Caesars ever assembled. Steve sold me this coin from a private owner, and before I had even paid for it, Steve had another buyer who was willing to buy it for over three times what I paid. I declined the offer. Steve's been dealing in ancient coins for over 40 years. Ask yourself whom would you trust: a world-class dealer who has sold literally tens of millions of dollars of coins to high-end collectors, or an individual who has never seen the coin in hand but is willing to make definitive determinations based solely on a picture taken by an amateur photographer (me) as well as make snide comments about it? I would have preferred to leave BM's earlier post unaddressed but the resurrection of his comments made my response unavoidable. They are simply not true and not based in reality.
I found this video instructive even though it is a hobo nickel: I suspect that high-end tooled ancient coins are sometimes tumbled after graving to simulate some "honest wear." A friend of mine who restores vintage jewelry uses very fine sandblasting, or chemical etching to create uniform textures, then he repatinates.
I dont always agree with Barry (some older collectors will maybe remember). On @IdesOfMarch01 coin, I dont know. I think it would be very helpful if Barry would tell us what he presents to know. We all know its easy to make a comment one way or the other, but sometimes if it is not so obvious to all of us and some of us would like to know what 'the deal is'.
Who can show a die duplicate of the coin? Actually it would take two die duplicates to establish which coin was tooled if the two showed any differences and then we would have to rule out die retouching.
the dividing line where a seller must mention something is if unoxidised metal has been removed. If the strengthening is all within metal oxide layers - which can be quite thick - then "smoothed" is an accepted term. "strengthen" means "tooled" and I don't mind if auctioneers use it. Experienced collectors generally know that strengthen means tooled and to an extent its a more plain word. You need experience to tell between cutting metal and moulding patina. You need experience to observe either consistently. I can. I know my coins and though Roman Republican bronzes are widely smoothed / tooled, my collection as it now stands is a tool-free area. I don't especially object to smoothing. It's just a step more than cleaning. But if done to enhance condition it usually in my eyes makes a coin look worse or at least unattractive to me. There's no general advice to protect inexperienced collectors. If you can't see it yet, writing words won't help you see it. When experienced, it becomes obvious. Buy from top class companies that have a reputation for noting when surfaces have been messed with. Get more experience by handling at least 10 coins for ever one you buy from reputable sources. If you like to buy from eBay then your collection is likely already stuffed with toolies and you will never recognize the case.
