I was just reading some articles about the sellers and uncleaned lots. The question I have to the members is , the question: is buying uncleaned lots ethical , or is it viewed by some , or most , to be un-ethical. Recently a British supplier said , he is no longer selling un-cleaned lots because the supplier cannot fill his orders any longer. He stated that most of the coins (un-cleaned lots are now coming from Serbia/Ukraine etc. ) He had found that most of these are found and taken by people hunting for these with metal detectors , and selling these to anyone , without thinking of the bigger picture of where ,when ,how , and why these coins are where they are. I would like the ancient collectors to tell their thought on purchasing these lots , and their view points about this subject. Is it also better to invest in single coins as opposed to buying these lots and cleaning them . Thank You to all who answer these questions.
It will be interesting to see input. I have bought a few "uncleaned" lots and have never been impressed (entertained, but not impressed).
I purchased 4 uncleaned lots between 2014 and 2017, each with about 250 coins (1/2 kg). The average price for this amount of coins was about $350 per lot. While I enjoyed cleaning them up and attributing them I found that there were lots of duplicates (fel temp reparatio of constantius II for example). On the whole, I gained about 50 collectible coins from that expenditure. You will find that the majority of the coins are in unsaleable condition, lots and lots of slugs or "culls" . When the outlet I was using shut down (maybe the one you are referring to in your post) I did some google searches for uncleaned coins and found cointalk.com. Since then I have only focused on good quality coins that will retain (or perhaps increase) in value and have participated in a number of auctions, for example @John Anthony 's that are run here on the forum. So while collecting uncleans can be fun, you will find it very time consuming and perhaps not worth the effort, but of course, to each his own.
So far I found some nice coins , a 7 gram solid gold coin but damaged beyond recognition . Other Roman bronze , got some that are fairly good but I think it is better to invest in the single coins rather then the lots , and they the hassle of cleaning them all.
I've purchased 2 lots and had fun with them, learned from them and found the whole experience enjoyable. Are the coins I have cleaned worth what I have paid? I do not think so. If I was to factor in the time and effort I would say even less of a value. In my (limited) experience I see these not as financial investments but as an enjoyable sideline that entertains and teaches. If that is not what you are looking for then avoid them. The lots are picked over many, many times before they make it into our hands... there is nothing of exceptional value in them. As for the ethics of it? I feel that I have restored these items to as close to their former glory as they are going to get. A little bit of history is saved in my mind. I keep some and give some away to kids or anyone else who shows interest. So that is a big positive. As for the sourcing of these items? I have no idea. If someone has information that shows me that purchasing uncleaned lots causes issues or harm I would certainly reassess my practices.
Thank you for your answers . Having the coins in hand really did help me to learn a fair amount about these , and from that aspect there is great value in the lots .
If you buy uncleaned lots, treat it as a hobby/learning experience and you will not be disappointed. You will spend many hours happily cleaning and learning to ID them. But if you are looking to make money or put together an impressive ancient coin collection, then there are better ways to go about this. The "Golden Age" of uncleaned ancient coins has past.
The best thing that happened to me when it comes to ancient coins is winning a contest here and being "gifted" a bag of unattributed coins. They weren't unclean, but the process of attributing them was priceless. There are a few left that haven't been attributed yet, and I've been slipping in posting my progress. But, I've kept at it and it's been a great experience. If you can get a small lot, even if they're not worth a ton of money, it will help you learn a lot...at least it helped me.
