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Holding History "Looks promising!" Uncleaned Coins REVIEW
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<p>[QUOTE="hotwheelsearl, post: 4525814, member: 75143"]**Medium post warning** (lol)</p><p><br /></p><p>Okay, this is the last and final Uncleaned Coin review for the foreseeable future. I've spent <i>way</i> too much money on these, and I don't think I'll be buying uncleans ever again.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, this last and final review is actually a bit of a high note. I'll post a before and after of each coin, and give a final rating.</p><p><br /></p><p>Holding History is an eBay seller and also a website seller who specializes in ancient coins. I've purchased a couple coins from them before.</p><p>One thing I've noticed is that many of their coins exhibit visible tool marks, evidence of some zealous cleaning attempts. However, the coins they sell are generally quite excellent and fairly priced. Most start at a $0.99 auction and will sell for no matter what it bids up to.</p><p>That's how I got a mediocre Ant Pi dupondius for just $12.50.</p><p><br /></p><p>I purchased two lots of 3 uncleaned AE2s, which were described as "Looks Promising!"</p><p><br /></p><p>6 coins at a cost of $39.44 comes out to <b>$6.57 per coin</b>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now this is significantly more than the previous coins I've purchased, which ranged from $0.73 each from the large hoards, to $1.70 for my most recent Noble Roman Coins "Premium Uncleaned" coins review.</p><p><br /></p><p>These coins from HH are 6x more expensive, but are they worth 6x the cost? Let's find out.</p><p><br /></p><p>My cleaning process consisted solely of a long soak in lye, and Ren Wax application. After breaking my back on the last 30 coins, I was 100% done and didn't want to waste any time on these.</p><p><br /></p><p>In no particular order...</p><p><br /></p><p>Constans AE24</p><p>FTR Galley reverse</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1121268[/ATTACH]</p><p>This one looks pretty tough.Multicolored corrosion is all over the coin. The green spots were very hard and unyielding to mechanical attacks.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1121276[/ATTACH] </p><p>Wow, what a change! All of the multicoloration is all but disappeared. The green corrosion spots were still present, and unyielding to mechanical attacks. At least the Jax and Ren Wax darkened them enough to be undistracting.</p><p><b>Rating: 8/10</b></p><p>Grade bump for the dumbest bust of Constans I've ever seen</p><p><b>Rating: 9/10</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>Constantius II AE22</p><p>FTR Hut reverse</p><p><b>[ATTACH=full]1121278[/ATTACH] </b></p><p>This one looks even worse than the last one. Obverse is almost completely covered in brown rust and has scratches on the face. The reverse is severely marred by that adamantium green stuff.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1121279[/ATTACH] </p><p>Now this is much better. The cheek scratches disappeared, and the colors have evened out considerably. Unfortunately, the green stuff just won't budge even though the reset of the reverse looks great.</p><p><b>Rating: 8/10</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>Constans AE22</p><p>FTR Galley reverse</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1121280[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Again, a very rough start. Same as before, more discoloration. This time the reverse has some bright teal spots instead of darker green. Yikes</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1121281[/ATTACH] </p><p>A great improvement, but the obverse now shows some pitting over the entire surface. The reverse is great though, and most of the green is now darkened enough to be nearly invisible at first glance, and much of it even came off entirely. I like how you can see the breasts of the seated figure in such detail.</p><p><b>Rating: 7/10</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>Magnentius AE22</p><p>Securitas Reipublicae reverse</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1121282[/ATTACH] </p><p>The obverse looks great on this one. A decently even patina is really ruined by a horrendous reverse. Fortunately, no greenies here. You can see some obvious attempts at a mechanical cleaning, which were given up on apparently.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1121284[/ATTACH]</p><p>Now this is a cautionary tale of "tit for tat." I sacrificed the obverse for a great reverse. A formerly well-patinated bust is now completely pitted to oblivion, and looks disgusting. </p><p>However, the reverse really cleaned up and looks great now.</p><p>How much did it cost? <i><b>Everything</b></i>.</p><p><b>Rating: 6/10</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Continued...</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="hotwheelsearl, post: 4525814, member: 75143"]**Medium post warning** (lol) Okay, this is the last and final Uncleaned Coin review for the foreseeable future. I've spent [I]way[/I] too much money on these, and I don't think I'll be buying uncleans ever again. However, this last and final review is actually a bit of a high note. I'll post a before and after of each coin, and give a final rating. Holding History is an eBay seller and also a website seller who specializes in ancient coins. I've purchased a couple coins from them before. One thing I've noticed is that many of their coins exhibit visible tool marks, evidence of some zealous cleaning attempts. However, the coins they sell are generally quite excellent and fairly priced. Most start at a $0.99 auction and will sell for no matter what it bids up to. That's how I got a mediocre Ant Pi dupondius for just $12.50. I purchased two lots of 3 uncleaned AE2s, which were described as "Looks Promising!" 6 coins at a cost of $39.44 comes out to [B]$6.57 per coin[/B]. Now this is significantly more than the previous coins I've purchased, which ranged from $0.73 each from the large hoards, to $1.70 for my most recent Noble Roman Coins "Premium Uncleaned" coins review. These coins from HH are 6x more expensive, but are they worth 6x the cost? Let's find out. My cleaning process consisted solely of a long soak in lye, and Ren Wax application. After breaking my back on the last 30 coins, I was 100% done and didn't want to waste any time on these. In no particular order... Constans AE24 FTR Galley reverse [ATTACH=full]1121268[/ATTACH] This one looks pretty tough.Multicolored corrosion is all over the coin. The green spots were very hard and unyielding to mechanical attacks. [ATTACH=full]1121276[/ATTACH] Wow, what a change! All of the multicoloration is all but disappeared. The green corrosion spots were still present, and unyielding to mechanical attacks. At least the Jax and Ren Wax darkened them enough to be undistracting. [B]Rating: 8/10[/B] Grade bump for the dumbest bust of Constans I've ever seen [B]Rating: 9/10 [/B] Constantius II AE22 FTR Hut reverse [B][ATTACH=full]1121278[/ATTACH] [/B] This one looks even worse than the last one. Obverse is almost completely covered in brown rust and has scratches on the face. The reverse is severely marred by that adamantium green stuff. [ATTACH=full]1121279[/ATTACH] Now this is much better. The cheek scratches disappeared, and the colors have evened out considerably. Unfortunately, the green stuff just won't budge even though the reset of the reverse looks great. [B]Rating: 8/10 [/B] Constans AE22 FTR Galley reverse [ATTACH=full]1121280[/ATTACH] Again, a very rough start. Same as before, more discoloration. This time the reverse has some bright teal spots instead of darker green. Yikes [ATTACH=full]1121281[/ATTACH] A great improvement, but the obverse now shows some pitting over the entire surface. The reverse is great though, and most of the green is now darkened enough to be nearly invisible at first glance, and much of it even came off entirely. I like how you can see the breasts of the seated figure in such detail. [B]Rating: 7/10 [/B] Magnentius AE22 Securitas Reipublicae reverse [ATTACH=full]1121282[/ATTACH] The obverse looks great on this one. A decently even patina is really ruined by a horrendous reverse. Fortunately, no greenies here. You can see some obvious attempts at a mechanical cleaning, which were given up on apparently. [ATTACH=full]1121284[/ATTACH] Now this is a cautionary tale of "tit for tat." I sacrificed the obverse for a great reverse. A formerly well-patinated bust is now completely pitted to oblivion, and looks disgusting. However, the reverse really cleaned up and looks great now. How much did it cost? [I][B]Everything[/B][/I]. [B]Rating: 6/10 Continued...[/B][/QUOTE]
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Holding History "Looks promising!" Uncleaned Coins REVIEW
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