So, i am New into this hobby, i dont care If a Coin has been cleaned since every ancient one has been cleaned, but most say that polish is basicaly damage to the coin, have my Coins been polished in the past?
I am a die hard US collector but do dabble a bit in ancients and I fully lay the blame on this website ...... I am more inclined to think your coins have been treated with Renwax. The Renwax does an absolutely fabulous job of making old lifeless ancients pop. I made a necklace for my wife with an old Chi-Rho and I treat it with Renwax at least once a year. It goes from dull and dead to eye popping in minutes with that stuff.
Your actual "Ancient" coins do not look polished. They are nice coins that have been cleaned at some point, but I see no evidence of polish whatever that may be. Renwax is not polish as I understand it. It protects a coin and perhaps helps highlighting.
Hey, welcome to CT (since Dec. 2023). How long have you been collecting coins? How long for ancients? The reason I ask is that most people who collect ancients have seen some that are "uncleaned" and require some cleaning processes that would make a modern-coin collector faint. Polishing, either by abrasion or some cleaning agent is not a real factor in most ancients. Cleaning by soaking, brushing and picking is common. Treating with agents such as RenWax is also common to bring out details on coins and improve their appearance.
From the company's description page. "The finest all purpose cleaner/polish wax available, used by museums and art galleries around the world. Renaissance wax will gently remove dirt, dust, old cleaning agents and grime, leaving a smooth, polished surface. Cleans & polishes any hard surface; including wood, metal, marble, plastic, stone, ceramics & leather. Won t stain or discolor. The hard wax residue will protect surfaces from fingerprints, spills, pollutants, etc.." No data on content composition. Jim
Thanks you all for your answers, the reason of my concern was that a Guy that is supossed to be an specialist of Coins Said that all my Coins have been polished in the past and that almost ALL of ancient ones have been polished at some point. That got me worried and a bit confused. That why i am asking here
I will second the opinion that all your ancient coins do not appear to have been "polished" based on your photos, so I wouldn't worry too much about their value being affected. Even the 1815 coin and Septimius Severus denarius, although they look more "silvery" than the others, don't appear to be excessively cleaned. They don't appear to be brushed or polished to my eyes. In any event, the silver will re-tone with time.
