Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;gsimonel, post: 2613396, member: 82549&quot;]One way collectors often handle this is to list it as RIC 151, var. (mint mark), meaning the coin is a variant of RIC 151.</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;d also like to point out that, judging by the photo, the OP coin was heavily encrusted when found and recently cleaned using electrolysis. I can tell this by the surface roughness at 3:00 on the obverse and by the traces of remaining traces of surface crud on the obverse portrait and on the reverse around the edge between 12:00 and 3:00 o&#039;clock.</p><p><br /></p><p>A lot of collectors sneer at the use of electrolysis, but notice how nice this coin looks. I don&#039;t know what it looked like before, but judging by the traces of crud that remain, I&#039;d say it was likely covered in a think, black layer that obscured all detail.</p><p><br /></p><p>Notice, too, that the coin was NOT artificially patinated after the electrolysis. It drives me crazy when someone strips a coin down to bare metal with electrolysis and then tries to hide this with a fake patina. As this coin shows, there&#039;s no need to do this. In the very short time since this coin has been zapped it&#039;s already turned a nice, chocolate-brown color; it will continue darkening over time, albeit slowly.</p><p><br /></p><p>My point is that someone took an unrecognizable lump of black crud and through careful use of electrolysis restored a nice coin to collectible condition. There is nothing destructive or unethical about the process used to clean this coin. I think it turned out very nicely.</p><p><br /></p><p>Finally, and then I&#039;ll shut up, there seems to be something about the chemistry of some antoninianii of this time period that affords some particularly nice successes with electrolysis. Perhaps it is the silver wash, which seems to bond readily with chemicals in the surrounding environment. I have had several instances where coins covered with 1/4&quot; of thick, black concrete yielded gorgeous results after zapping. Here&#039;s two of Probus, (the first of which was actually published in Coin World magazine years ago). Neither of these coins were recognizable as anything other than small black blobs when I received them:</p><p><img src="http://feltemp.com/Library/Probus.JPG" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /> </p><p>Serdica mint</p><p>RIC 862</p><p>Obv: IMP C M AVR PROBVS AVG</p><p>Rev: S-O-l INVICT-O - Sol in spread quadriga, holding whip</p><p><img src="http://feltemp.com/Library/Probus4.JPG" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p>Rome mint</p><p>RIC175</p><p>Obv: PROBV-S P F AVG</p><p>Rev: IOVI CON-S - PROB AVG - Jupiter, holding thunderbolt and leaning on scepter</p><p><br /></p><p>(BTW: of all the coins I&#039;ve sold or traded over the years, these are the two that I most regret letting go of. Shame on me; I was a poor graduate student at the time.)[/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