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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;robinjojo, post: 4401162, member: 110226&quot;]A coin&#039;s condition is determined by the type of metal (bronze, silver or gold), the conditions such as soil composition if buried (mineral composition), climatic conditions (arid versus temperate) and nature of deposition (a single buried coin or part of a hoard found in a structure, box or vase, for example).</p><p><br /></p><p>Another determinant is how the coin is treated after discovery.&nbsp; Many higher value coins, especially tetradrachm, saw relatively little circulation, when compared to lower value silver coins, such as obols and bronze coins, which were generally used more widely in every day transactions.&nbsp; As a result, hoards of tetradrachms are discovered where the majority of coins are generally in excellent condition.&nbsp; These coins are often cleaned (sometimes even polished) down to the original metal, slabbed and sold at healthy, promoted markups. </p><p><br /></p><p>This coin that I purchased earlier this year, is in a NGC slab, has been cleaned down to the original surface:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH]1106175[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]1106176[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Other coins do exhibit the deposits of centuries of burial: horn silver, mineralization from the soil, including oxides of copper, along with compacted soil and obvious corrosion, often all mixed together. Often these deposits are quite thick, and they can mask corrosion beneath.&nbsp; Burial causes surfaces to oxidize to the point where the metal changes chemically and elements of the devices and legend are replaced from silver or bronze to acanthite (for silver), or malachite, azurite or cuprite (for bronze).&nbsp; These coins are often best left as is, unless the deposits are so thick that a conservative cleaning is called for. </p><p><br /></p><p>Here&#039;s a coin that has been left more or less&quot;as-is&quot;, although it has been lightly cleaned:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1106184[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Often, as well, ancients are tooled to enhance appearance, usually by smoothing the fields and sometimes even re-engraving features of the designs to emphasis contrast, especially with features of hair, feathers and other fine details.&nbsp; This seems to have been a more common practice in the past, but it does exist even to this day.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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