Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 3227451, member: 112&quot;]All of that is true, but the last line, I think not so much.</p><p><br /></p><p>I could be wrong but I don&#039;t think most people in today&#039;s world realize just how old coin collecting is. Or how widespread it was even a thousand years ago. But to give you an idea, the very first book on coins that was ever printed, was printed in 1511. Perhaps even more surprising would be that it was written and published by a woman. And back then women weren&#039;t exactly seen in the same way they are today. The point that is that if women were that involved in coin collecting back then, it should give you an idea of how widespread it was. And the oldest known book on coins was written in China in 1149. And there is serious doubt that it was the first.</p><p><br /></p><p>As to the harsh cleaning of coins, and not just ancients, the reason it was primarily done is the very same reason we have today - toning, particularly unsightly toning. Coins always have and always will tone since the only thing that is required for this to happen is for them to be exposed to the air. And people back then liked it even less than they do today. So what did they do to combat it ? They&#039;d pick up their coins and rub them with a cloth until they rubbed the toning away because that&#039;s all they knew how to do. This practice continues even today, and for the same reasons.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now eventually, the people who used to be called alchemist centuries ago came up with a way to chemically remove toning. And the fact that that even happened also expresses just how widespread coin collecting was. Granted, it was the nobility that did it, which is why and how the hobby got its very name - the hobby of Kings. But there was a LOT of nobility, men and women both !</p><p><br /></p><p>The practice of using a cloth to clean your coins has been with us ever since. And its not just collectors who did it, museums also did it, and I suspect some still do. There are even published reports of the curators in the Smithsonian using cloths to wipe down all the coins in the national collection in fairly recent years. That&#039;s how widespread and accepted the practice is and always has been.[/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