Hi guys, I recently made a purchase from dirtyoldcoins because I wanted to get back into ancients a little. I purchased 2 of the uncleaned greek coins and got them today. Both were total culls. No cleaning necessary...not even a faint image on either side of both coins. $27 down the drain. I'm really disappointed, I thought the whole point was to be able to clean them off and attribute them. There is not a single thing left on these coins. They are downright unattributable. I would almost pass them off as rocks if it weren't for their shape. Anyone else have an experience like this?
If your not happy just email Rasiel, rasiel@dirtyoldbooks.com, hes an easy going guy so he may offer a refund or exchange. For $27 you could have got a few decent greeks at bargainbinancients.com
Thanks mat, I wrote an email to the customer service line info(at)dirtycoins(dot)com, but I'll write a letter to rasil as well. Thanks for the link the additional website as well. Just to clarify, are dirtyoldbooks and dirtyoldcoins affiliated?
Yup, same guy. One man operation. He's respected in the ancient coin world but uncleaned lots of any sort from any site are usually trash.
I agree with uncleaned lots; however, Raisel is a decent guy, so you should contact him. He IS well respected in the community.
Thank you. I wrote an email to him explaining that I was disappointed with the purchase and was wondering how we can turn this transaction into a positive one.
Ras is an awesome dude but I do feel the same way for the coins he has for sale. But then again it is hard to find anyone who actually sells 'good' uncleaned lots. I also don't think he is intensely pursuing getting more coins. Last I heard he was working hard on his next book.
"Uncleaned" ancients for the last ten years really means floor sweepings. There really is no place to buy coins fresh from the ground unpicked through. All you will get is coins not worth the $5 to clean it really. Its simply the truth. You used to be able to find coins relatively unpicked through, but that was well over a decade ago. Do yourself a favor and simply buy coins you like how they are today.
I bought a fantastic poster of the Roman Imperials from them - highly recommended for anyone interested in Roman coins.
You're probably right...I just like the fun of cleaning them off and attributing them myself. If I just flat out buy a greek coin, I already know what it's going to look like, and more than likely there will be plenty of information that goes along with it where it is listed.
Oh heck no. Buy a group lot of unattributed greeks at an auction then. You can attribute them. Good luck, greeks are my achilles heel. Way too many tiny cities issuing coins. I have a pretty little ae15 in gXF, (basically how it left the mint). No idea who minted it. I got it in a group lot from Lindgren, but can't find it in one of his books....
I agree. He has many posters, and they are back in stock now. I still wish he would follow my suggestion I gave him a decade ago and make a Persian one. He is an excellent photographer.
