Cleaning and Toning of Ancient Coins; Opinions and Controversy Expected

Luckily some members see the light, repent their wicked ways and go buy multiple raw coins over the next few days.

 

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You mean little old me?

 

I've had some coins improperly cleaned with the patina removed or I had to remove it because of a botched job and it is the only way to "repair" the coin.

I just leave them set normally and let them tone naturally no matter how long it takes. That's what I do.

 

A long, slow electrocution into oblivion. Sounds like a horrible way to vanish from existence.

 

I still show 35 Francis Rath coins in my database coded from 1987 to 1997 and $14 to $152 making him what I would call small/medium supplier to me in that period. I never bought lots but went for cheap individuals. The only name I have record of from the 60's is Joel Malter but I did not see the need of recording dealer names until the late 80's. The $152 coin:

3/4 of the price was the countermarks and 3/4 of that was the owl.

I really enjoyed my open trays but never saw paying for Abafils. I bought mine from a dealer named Edward Jencius and they are plastic and flocking at much lower prices. When he retired, I bought enough to last me but when my collection grew too large to make them practical, I converted to paper envelopes and put the trays/cases in the attic. The size choices were identical but I have no idea who made them. I would use them again if you guys would buy a couple thousand of my coins. What works for you new collectors in 2015 might not seem so appropriate in a few decades.


I regret not looking at the slabbed coins at Baltimore. Who knows what I missed only having 10,000 raws to look at.

 

I have a coin that was purchased from FJ Rath by its previous owner well before I was born in November of 1970.

 

After an hour in the iron maiden position of crouching over coins, I have to stretch my legs, so I walk around the bourse and glance at the offerings. What I noticed is more slabbed ancients in the US dealers' cases than I had before. I suppose I should have taken a closer look, but I assume that US dealers are going to want Heritage prices for those slabs, so I don't even bother.

One of these days I'm going to get a massage in the foyer, but I probably don't want to know what they charge either. I'm just thrilled that the coins I sold from the show paid for the $13 crab-cake sandwich. That thing is still stuck in my craw.

 

Ya' know, if there are more ancient slabs out there, they might catch the eye of the US collector.

 

And drive up prices even more.

 

My biggest single problem with slabs is that you cannot examine the entire coin because parts of the edge are covered by all slabs and it could be hiding nasty edge damage such as a test cut. It's also hard to really examine the coin's surfaces through a plastic window. For the edge reason alone, I will almost never buy a slabbed coin anymore unless I have seen what it looked like before slabbing.

 

Those are good points Carth, but I won't say I will not buy a slabbed coin. If it looks like one I want and the price is right, I can break it out and examine. I do realize I will not be able to return it, but, like I said, the price has to be right.

 

There is great pleasure in actually handling a coin. Feeling the relief, the weight or lack of, it's coolness. The tactile sensation allows one of the closest connections with the ancients. Who goes to the Colosseum only to look at it through a window? The first thing I did was to touch it, same with the Pantheon.

 

That's well-said. I'm going to steal it from you.

 

Enjoy! Because of you I always consider CoinTalk home of "erudite numismatic discussion."