Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DonnaML, post: 4136957, member: 110350&quot;]After seeing all the great examples in this thread of the Otacilia Severa hippo reverse, my Gollum-like acquisitiveness took over -- my precious! -- and I felt an irresistible compulsion to try to buy one of my own.&nbsp; So I purchased this example.&nbsp; Obviously I don&#039;t have it in hand yet, and it certainly isn&#039;t as nice as [USER=19463]@dougsmit[/USER] &#039;s, but I think it&#039;s still an acceptable example of the type: Otacilia Severa (wife of Philip I) AR antoninianus AD 248, Rome mint, 4th Officina. Obv. Draped bust of Otacilia Severa right, wearing stephane, crescent behind shoulders, OTACIL SEVERA AVG/ Rev. Hippopotamus right, SAECVLARES AVGG, IIII in exergue. RIC IV-3 116(b), RSC IV 63, Sear RCV III 9160. 23 mm., 4.52 g. (<i>Games commemorating 1,000th&nbsp; anniversary of founding of Rome</i>.)</p><p><br /></p><p>After the photos (which are, of course, the seller&#039;s images), I have a question:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1070499[/ATTACH] </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1070500[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s my question.&nbsp; From looking at these photos, can anyone make an educated guess as to whether the black areas represent dirt, or toning, or the wearing away of silver on the surface to reveal base metal underneath?&nbsp; Same question about what look like yellowish/brown areas on both sides. And if it&#039;s just dirt, or even toning, does anyone have any recommendations on how to go about cleaning it in a way that won&#039;t harm the coin?&nbsp; (Cleaning ancient coins is not something I&#039;ve really tried before except when there was very obvious dirt on the surface.) Many thanks.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in