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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;DonnaML, post: 7713927, member: 110350&quot;]I think some of you might find it interesting to read the views of one dealer on acceptable vs. unacceptable practices with respect to painting/repatination, smoothing and tooling, etc., using Judaean coins as an example. It&#039;s on the defunct website of Fontanille Coins -- a once well-known and reputable dealer, apparently -- so the link is through the Wayback Machine:&nbsp; <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190915164751/http://www.fontanillecoins.com/tooling.htm" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190915164751/http://www.fontanillecoins.com/tooling.htm" rel="nofollow">https://web.archive.org/web/20190915164751/http://www.fontanillecoins.com/tooling.htm</a>. </p><p><br /></p><p>In general, he views cleaning and what he calls &quot;repatination&quot; as acceptable, and tooling and painting as unacceptable. Here is one of his statements:</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Repatination is an improper word that does not consist in removing the original patina in order to replace it by a new and thus fake one. It simply consists, after a coin has been cleaned, in adding a layer of bright substance in the background in order to enhance the patterns. The silver coins do not need repatination because they are naturally bright, but the bronze coins, when cleaned, are generally covered by a dark patina and they need repatination.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>It would seem that as long as the repatination is removable, it&#039;s OK in his view. So he would probably endorse adding &quot;desert patina&quot; like Athena does.&nbsp; He also seems to think some smoothing is OK -- but not tooling.</p><p><br /></p><p>Here are links to two threads on the FORVM discussion boards commenting on Fontanille&#039;s views, one from 2013 and one from 2015:</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=91927.msg573789#msg573789" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=91927.msg573789#msg573789" rel="nofollow">https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=91927.msg573789#msg573789</a></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=101965.msg628053#msg628053" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=101965.msg628053#msg628053" rel="nofollow">https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=101965.msg628053#msg628053</a></p><p><br /></p><p>As far as I&#039;m concerned, if what somebody does to a coin beyond cleaning is removable and disclosed, it becomes a matter of taste as to whether it increases or decreases the value, and whether it&#039;s acceptable or unacceptable. Personally, it&#039;s not to my taste. I don&#039;t like the way applied desert patina looks -- perhaps because it&#039;s so strongly associated in my mind with &quot;fakeness.&quot; So I wouldn&#039;t buy a desert patina coin from Athena, disclosed or otherwise.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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