Can a coin acquire "desert patina" if it wasn't minted anywhere near the desert?

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Well, Doug already pointed out how coins from different mints can end up in far flung locations. BUT, there seems to be some disparaging of a certain dealer here (and in the past). It is not unusual for a dealer who is in a certain desert country to offer coins with mostly desert patinas. It is true that even in those countries those patinas are modern and applied for appeal and value. Its a more complicated topic than one would realize. But dont condemn a dealers inventory based on what we dont know. Fake desert patinas can be easy for one to spot, others can be hard. Take David Hendin for example. His reputation is above reproach, but he is in New York which might make one think his coins are all modified. But when one knows where he obtains his coins, it becomes clear that not only does he know the difference, but he is obtaining good coins with good patinas (even though they all look similar, despite the time frames of the coins and originating mints).

 

The coin above from whom did you now by this? and the Uranius?
Uranius is still on my list to get...

I know both dealers of course....Z and A.

 

I didn't buy the above coin - it just recently appeared in A's inventory. I thought he had improved after I contacted vcoins. He had started to mention artificial desert patinas, but now he's stopped doing this again. The Uranius I bought from A - the coin is in really good shape, a large provincial from Emesa. It's just the patina I suspect is artificial and should have been declared.

 

Yes I have seen your Uranius coin. A is doing this a lot lately and also there prices are 2/3 higher than I am willing to pay.
About Z is performing the same action as A all the time, you think?

 

I think it is becoming a general problem:

https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/ep..._isis_pharia_holding_sail/599953/Default.aspx

 

I have purchased a few times from Z. One was a Vabalathus/Aurelian which, in the hand, really does have a convincing sandy patina. The other was a Julian/bull AE1 which certainly has an applied patina. You can tell the difference!

 

I've never purchased from this dealer. Not sure about this patina.

In the case of A, i *know* he does it, because I can match some items in his inventory to the auctions where he bought them.

 

If this is the same dealer that sold you fake patinated coins in the past, I would assume that there is a good chance this one is fake too.

 

I will say this on the topic. The surfaces of an ancient coin by their very nature are nearly never original. One must make a decision on what they are willing to pay. Personally I dont like the coins with fake highlighting (soil, dirt, sand, etc). I would rather see it naturally, but that just doesnt happen often.

 

This coin indeed has a desert patina that is original , you can buy it and if you find otherwise, I will double your money .
You can not accuse some one of not being honest because a coin minted in Rome do exist all over the Roman Empire , when we suspect a coin to have applied patina we do put in description that it is applied .
Plz don't accuse me just based in thoughts , and if you wish for me to send the coin to Barry Murphy in vcoins management to examine it , I will do so if you take care of the shipping back and forth to Canada , if the patina is fake or glued then you have it for free .
Best regards .
Salem Alshdaifay
Athena Numismatics

 

What about this coin? It has an applied patina but is not listed as such in the description. See: https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=1596405

This is what makes people suspicious of coins such as the one listed above.

 

Surely you are right about this one we didn't spot this, we corrected it .

 

Funny how that coin went from a beautiful green patina to desert patina on it's way to vcoins.com. That was some good detective work @red_spork

 

I can't take credit for that. Doug found it a while back, I just happened to remember enough of the previous post to dig it up when I searched.

 

It is Always good when collectors and dealers point such things to each other, It is good for us to know as well such changes to coins, the coin was removed from my stock , even though I corrected the info but after giving it another thought I just removed it from my store, Thanks @@red_spork.

 

Well, hmmmm.

My observation:

As an innocent bystander reading and further learning about "desert patina".... I have absolutely NO good feelings about the topic.

My confidence was drastically eroded, especially from the last few comments.

This was very frustrating for me. Fortunately, I believe I only have ONE desert patina coin, and as an historical collector, I have no desire to buy any others.

 

so are we now going to sell the 15000 coins in lots of 100?
)

 

all B/S/T discussion must be in the advertising forums, and follow the rukes for that forum!

 

I have purchased coins from sellers in desert regions that I really believe have a genuine "glued by nature" soil/sand surface. I have also purchased coins that I believe and was confirmed by the seller that the surface had been assisted. The question is whether we each feel competent to separate the two groups 100% (or even 50%) of the time. There are some coins that I have bought that I am more comfortable with than others and that includes coins with other surface types than sand as well. Unfortunately, for those of us not skilled enough to received job offers from NGC (AKA most of us), it seems an easy way out to just not buy a coin with a soil surface or, my current state, not to buy a coin for more than I would pay for that same coin stripped of the soil. I am not proud of the situation but I am not interested in paying $40 for opinions (on $20 coins???) so it is the easy way for me.

Above is the last sandy coin I bought from a desert country. I have posted it here before explaining why I wanted it (few would understand that) but I determined it was worth the risk. You each can look at it and agree, disagree or wonder what fool would want that coin in any circumstance. It is a hobby. Try not to take the fun out of it for those of us who are tired of the tone of so many recent CT threads.