Many of us save for coins that are beautiful and may stretch our coin budgets. Most of us also are also looking for coins that are poorly photographed, misdescribed or under appreciated that with the right eyes or a few glasses of wine are a great buy. I'm sure this has been done before but this is (maybe another) thread for those coins that others thought were junk but turned out to be (probably still junk to most) but a lucky buy for those seeing what others did not. I saw this coin and could see it was a Domitian denarius with good silver under the crud. It is not in great shape but for under $10... I feel it qualifies as a thrifty victory. PS: My photos are terrible... but with an iPhone at 2am... this is what you get. PPS: Cleaning: A thumbnail, toothpick and a few hours... probably more that could be done but I'm leaving it here. PPPS: Some of you are probably saying "He should have kept it all cruddy... all the coins you see are all cleaned up... it's rarer to see one looking "as found." I agree somewhat. After removing the crud cocoon, I've had some regret that I didn't just keep it that way... but I like it now too. It looks much better (as they say) in-hand. I have not scratched the coin at all during cleaning, the dark areas could probably be removed easily. Domitian Denarius. 76 AD. CAESAR AVG F DOMITIANVS, laureate head right / COS IIII, winged Pegasus standing right with raising left foreleg. RIC V921, BMC 193, RSC 47. Post your thrifty before and after buys!
That's a remarkable before/after and a heck of a deal! I'm surprised it cleaned up with only mechanical means. I thought that type of surface deposit would require chemical cleaning. ... This Amisos Perseus slaying Medusa bronze fits with the thrifty theme-- ~$50-60-- especially considering the "after" appearance and when looking at comparable coins. Before (looks like a 70s black light poster. Pretty cool, but I'd rather see the coin's details): After: PONTOS, Amisos 85-65 BCE, time of Mithradates VI Eupator AE29, 19.5 gm Obv: helmeted head of Athena right; gryphon on helmet Rev: AMI-ΣOY; Perseus standing facing, holding harpa & Medusa's head; Medusa's body at his feet, monograms flanking him Ref: SNG BM Black Sea 1166; Stancomb 684; SNG Copenhagen 137 (best guess)
Those are the same coin ?!?! Very nice restoration work, very nice buy, and I really like the reverse design. I’m jealous over here. What happens with me is that I see a great coin and stretch my coin budget to buy it. I don’t save for coins. I just save for the inevitable eventuality that a spectacular need-to-buy coin shows up.
Randy, that’s a great buy and great cleaning job! How’d you go about cleaning it? Your coin is a perfect example of what I was getting at with this thread!
I admire you guys that have the patience to clean coins like that. After about 10 minutes, I'm ready to blow my brains out.
TIFF, that’s a great coin, I love those big (and small) Pontos Coins! I have my own personal ongoing adventure trying to “capture them all” like Steve a year or two back. It’s amazing the surfaces were still good and not pourus or corroded with that psychedelic shirt it was wearing! Great job, how did you clean that one? As for mine, it didn’t give up easy... it was like a mini layer of concrete covering the coin. My thumbnail and evening were toast by the time I finished.
Thanks. Doug had mentioned using lemon juice soaks and rubbing the coin with my thumb in water. Odd thin was it developed a thin layer of BD. I had to treat it twice. I'm with you.
I soaked it in white vinegar and gently dabbed it with a cotton-tipped swab. The green and blue copper compounds dissolved off readily. Afterwards I rinsed it in distilled water a few times (and soaked it), dried it, and applied VerdiCare. Coins of Pontos (and some other Black Sea locales) used a copper alloy that is a little different from others and it seems to tolerate this type of cleaning. I wouldn't use a weak acid to clean an Alexandrian tetradrachm, for instance.
I have no patience. I do not clean coins. So now, I have deemed me doing Coin-Cleaning as against my religion. HOWEVER, if someone ELSE wants to clean my coins, my Historical-Numismatic Religion recognizes that it is ok. @YOC saw an old post of this coin, and offered to clean it! I sacrificed a Possom and a few kumquats, and sent the coin off to the UK. Not much into it, so no problem if it were a disaster. I would have no qualms should he come back and tell me it were a failure. WOW, he done GOOD. My photo skills were/are a friggin' disaster, but I get the message accross: Before sacrificing a Possum and some kumquats AFTER the sacrifice: RI Postumus 259-268 CE Antoninianus Cologne Providentia
