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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 3036476, member: 19463&quot;]The best surviving coins could be buried for 2000+ years with no problem if they were the lucky ones to be in the middle of a sealed pot buried in a dry climate or under circumstances where there was no chemical fertilizer in the soil.&nbsp; Even burials in poor conditions can include good coins in the center of the bunch even if the outer parts were ruined.&nbsp; Some coins form a protective patina that almost identifies where they were found by the color.&nbsp; As long as some fool does not try to remove the patina, they can be quite nice.&nbsp; There are even coins that look good after spending centuries under water where there was no oxygen or other corrosive materials.&nbsp; I do believe that much of the damage to field find single coins has been worsened in the last century since people started dumping harsh chemical fertilizers on fields not previously treated with anything stronger than manure.&nbsp; There are many factors which explains why there are so many different outcomes.&nbsp; Very few coins stayed above ground.&nbsp; For the most part, ground level has raised so even a coin on the floor of a building would be covered with a few feet of dust after so long a period.&nbsp;&nbsp; Also, relatively few coins are found in archaeological sites sites.&nbsp; Think about it.&nbsp; There were no banks so you would hide your cash in a pot buried somewhere only you knew but not inside your house or in the town square.&nbsp;&nbsp; Things buried in unsealed pots, leather or cloth would not survive as well but if you stash a few million coins, a few thousand will survive well and a few hundred will be perfect.&nbsp;&nbsp; I don&#039;t think people today realize how many coins were made each week back then.&nbsp; The ones that stayed above ground were more likely to be melted and recoined in the new fashion.&nbsp; We have the ones lost and those hidden well enough they were not found.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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