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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Sallent, post: 2481162, member: 76194&quot;]Maybe this is a big deal for modern coin collectors, but as an ancient coin collector it really doesn&#039;t mater to me as all ancient coins have been cleaned at least once, and most probably multiple times in the centuries after they were dug up from their earthly graves where they lay for over 1,500 years undergoing all sort of chemical reactions with the soil.</p><p><br /></p><p>When they are first found they look like this! I don&#039;t care how much of a purist you are, you&#039;d have to agree that a clump of 500+ coins stuck together in a ball of corrosion, soil, and mud is not fit for display/collection purposes, so they have to be cleaned as in most cases you can&#039;t even tell what you have at all with all the stuff stuck to each individual coin.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]523785[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>However, I do like coins that have not been cleaned in decades/centuries after their original cleaning from being dug up in the ground...and have acquired toning since then.</p><p><br /></p><p>For example, after this coin was dug up probably in the 18th or 19th century, and then cleaned to get rid of the centuries worth of dirt and corrosion, I bet it was really shinny when the cleaning was completed.&nbsp; But it probably hasn&#039;t been cleaned now in at least a century. I think it looks better toned up now, but the fact remains that <u><b>this is a cleaned ancient coin</b></u>, which would have been cleaned at least once (after discovery) if not several more times after that.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]523786[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>M. Cipius M.f. 115-114 B.C.</b></p><p>AR Denarius 16mm. 3.90g. Rome Mint</p><p>Helmeted head of Roma, r.; X behind.</p><p>M. CIPI. M. F.</p><p>Victory in biga, r.; rudder below horses; In ex.: ROMA</p><p>Crawford 289/1; RSC Cipia 1</p><p><br /></p><p>And not being a hypocrite, if I&#039;m willing to accept the cleaned ancient coin above, then I have to also accept the cleaned ancient coin below. It probably had a more recent cleaning sometime in the last decade or two at the hands of a dealer looking to get a few more bucks by getting rid of the toning, back when toning was not in fashion. Not as many people cared for toning back in the 90&#039;s, believe it or not!</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]523787[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>LL. Thorius Balbus, 105 BC. </b></p><p>AR Denarius (3.91 gm). Head of Juno Lanuria wearing goat skin headress / Bull charging right. Thoria.1. </p><p><br /></p><p>If I really want to get rid of the shinny, I can just stick it in a paper envelope for the next 3-5 years. It won&#039;t quite look like that first coin which has not been cleaned in at least a century, but it may end up looking fairly close to what the one below looks like, which will will at least give it a little more character.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]523788[/ATTACH]</p><p><b> Vespasian, AD 69-79 </b></p><p>AR denarius, 3.4g, 19mm, 6h; Rome mint, c. 76.</p><p>Obv.: IMP CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG; Laureate head right.</p><p>Rev.: IOVIS CVSTOS; Jupiter standing left, sacrificing from patera over altar and holding sceptre.</p><p>Reference: RIC 849</p><p><br /></p><p>But either way, the point still remains, regardless of whether you want a shinny coin or a toned coin, you are still going to have to accept and get used to buying cleaned coins if you collect ancients.</p><p><br /></p><p>I don&#039;t think cleaning made any of these coins less &quot;original&quot; or less interesting. I&#039;m sure almost all ancient coin collectors would probably agree with that too. But then again, I don&#039;t collect modern coins. if I did, I&#039;m sure I would be very obsessed about originality like the OP, as these coins didn&#039;t spend more than a millennia buried in the ground like my ancients.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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