Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 676523, member: 19463&quot;]I suspect this number is about right but you have to allow for the fact that 70% of the coins found will not be cleanable even using &#039;correct&#039; techniques.&nbsp; Being buried in dirt for a thousand years can have a negative effect but being buried for a few years in a field that was treated with chemical fertilizers can be worse.&nbsp; Ancient coins that are found get sorted and sold according to the likelihood of something worthwhile coming out of the dirt.&nbsp; The ones amateurs like me get were not considered worth sending to the professional cleaners.&nbsp;&nbsp; Most dealers know that there are more people willing to buy a silver coin that is silver in color than grey/black so many coins are cleaned more than I might have preferred.&nbsp; </p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Modern collectors expect their modern coins to have spent their lives in a bank vault.&nbsp; Ancients that are lucky come from a pot or chest that was buried rather than lost individually in the soil.&nbsp; Sometimes the hoard will be fused together into a lump and the coins in the center of the lump will be pristine compared to individual field finds from an open field.&nbsp; If 30% of the coins found are being cleaned in such a way that they look good, we are doing pretty well.&nbsp; I probably &#039;ruin&#039; over 70% of the coins I clean if we define &#039;ruin&#039; as make a mark I wish I had not made.&nbsp; On the other hand, if I start with a featureless lump and end up with a readable and attractive coin, so be it.&nbsp; I&#039;d rather have a lightly scratched coin (all of the coins in my coin purse are scratched) than a featureless lump of soil and mineral deposits.[/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