Pocket piece advise - how to naturall wear a sestertius?

I have this Trajan sestertius that is pitted to death. I'm thinking of making it a pocket piece in an attempt to give it some natural wear and even out the surfaces.

What's a good practice? I fear if I keep it in a pocket with coins and keys, it'll just get all scratched up.

 

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Since it's copper it will probably turn pink after a few days. Try to only carry it with other coins rather than keys and stuff like that. TBH I'd rather have it pitted but it's your coin.

 

I've been carrying around pocket pieces for years, world crowns and silver dollars mostly, sometimes a big AE. It varies.

In order to keep from causing too much damage, I strictly segregate my pants pockets - left pocket for keys and change. Right pocket my phone, a couple mints, spare COVID mask and...the pocket piece. Nothing in the right pocket that is metal, except the pocket piece. Once I got in the habit of loading my pockets this way, I don't even have to think about it anymore.

After about 30 years I don't think I've ever damaged anything, but any toning on a silver coin will be lost, and coppers tend to get unpleasantly shiny, so I don't carry them around as much.

As for ancients, most of them are too small for me to feel comfortable carrying around like this - I'm afraid I'll lose them. But a sestertius might work. And after enough time maybe it will smooth out. Keep us posted!

 

Okay, will do! Since this is brass, I hope it doesn't get that weird copper shine. Presumably, after a million years, it'll end up looking naturally circulated. Maybe. We shall see.

 

Let us know if it works!

 

Curious as to the results.

 

I like to carry an ancient coin in the coin pocket of my Docker trousers. I lost my last one which was an Antoninus Pius AS. Here’s my latest which is quite a bit larger than the coin I lost.

 

Ouch, that loss must have hurt!
A 38 mm in the pocket. Amazing!

 

If I carry around a coin, I make sure that it is in a safety flip, and in my shirt pocket. I like to take the coin out and look at it from time to time - sheer joy.

My pants pockets are just too dangerous - keys, coins, about 4-5 generations of used Kleenex tissues, my covid face mask, the occasional pocket knife, debris from the trees when I am picking fruit, and generally just too much colliding and movement, possibly a black hole or two as well, maybe even the odd racoon.

If I were to carry a pocket coin around, I suppose it would be a slicked down Morgan dollar, but I would feel bad doing that to an ancient coin, which, even worn, has managed to survive hundreds, if not thousands of years of human civilization.

 

This is my Saturnalia bonus gift before and after carrying it in my pocket with keys and coins for 100 days:



LVCILLAE AVG ANTONINI AVG F – bust of Lucilla right, wearing paludamentum, pearls on chignon
HILARITAS S C - Hilaritas, standing left, holding cornucopia and palm branch
Sestertius, Rome mint, 164-166 A.D.
30,9 mm / 17,86 gr
RIC 1742, BMCRE 1147, Cohen 31, Banti 18 (22 specimens)

 

Thanks for the example! Looks much better now IMO

 

In case you want to save time, that looks like the before and after I hit it with metal polish (by hand) two times. Leather on a motorized device for a minute or so would also do that.

 

Not going to lie, hurts a bit to see a nice (even with the surface issues) Ptolemaic be used as a pocket piece

I feel the same way. I would not want to cause any further deterioration to an ancient coin by having it as a pocket piece.