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Aes grave semis: cleaning and provenance questions
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<p>[QUOTE="red_spork, post: 3792937, member: 74282"]As a budding collector of aes grave and other early Italian cast pieces I'll offer some insight into why I think invasively cleaning such a piece (or a piece of aes rude, aes signatum, etc) is usually a mistake, outside of eye appeal alone. As collectors of these pieces the odds are completely against us in some ways. We're authenticating pieces that were cast in antiquity so a lot of the normal things we'd look for, signs of striking, etc aren't there. A natural patina thus plays a more important role in allowing us to authenticate them. Whereas with a struck prow bronze I don't always mind a coin that's been partially or completely stripped and had the usual sulpur darkening(more common than most realize) if it's otherwise attractive and hasn't been tooled, I wouldn't touch an aes grave with any significant patina manipulation including stripping at any price. I've heard the sentiment echoed by other collectors of these pieces. Even though it's got a seemingly good provenance and might have been previously sold by good dealers, it's been irrevocably changed at this point.</p><p><br /></p><p>When it comes to cleaning any coin more significant than the average "uncleaned lot" LRB, it's worth pausing to think whether or not you should actually clean it and maybe consulting an expert. I always consult at least a couple people who know a lot more about the coins I collect than I do before I clean or pay anyone to clean one of my coins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="red_spork, post: 3792937, member: 74282"]As a budding collector of aes grave and other early Italian cast pieces I'll offer some insight into why I think invasively cleaning such a piece (or a piece of aes rude, aes signatum, etc) is usually a mistake, outside of eye appeal alone. As collectors of these pieces the odds are completely against us in some ways. We're authenticating pieces that were cast in antiquity so a lot of the normal things we'd look for, signs of striking, etc aren't there. A natural patina thus plays a more important role in allowing us to authenticate them. Whereas with a struck prow bronze I don't always mind a coin that's been partially or completely stripped and had the usual sulpur darkening(more common than most realize) if it's otherwise attractive and hasn't been tooled, I wouldn't touch an aes grave with any significant patina manipulation including stripping at any price. I've heard the sentiment echoed by other collectors of these pieces. Even though it's got a seemingly good provenance and might have been previously sold by good dealers, it's been irrevocably changed at this point. When it comes to cleaning any coin more significant than the average "uncleaned lot" LRB, it's worth pausing to think whether or not you should actually clean it and maybe consulting an expert. I always consult at least a couple people who know a lot more about the coins I collect than I do before I clean or pay anyone to clean one of my coins.[/QUOTE]
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Aes grave semis: cleaning and provenance questions
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