What Do You Think about Those Uncleaned Ancients on Ebay?

I have been wanting to buy an ancient lately, I do not collect them but I love to read about them study them and look at them on here. Anyways, Is it worth buying one of those $5 uncleaned ancient from those big lots of coins on Ebay? Like most people who but them I would like to clean them and try to ID an Emperor and their origin.

Thanks,

 

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I started off collecting Romans by buying uncleaned lots from ebay. I learned a lot, the most valuable thing being patience. There are no shortcuts to cleaning ancients, no matter what you may read on the internet.

You will learn a lot, but you are very unlikely to find anything of value. If I bought 50 uncleaned, I would consider myself lucky to find half a dozen decent coins, the rest being beyond hope, or just blank discs. It is, however, a good education. You will get the most common types of coin, and that is a good place to start.

If you do decide to buy a few, try and pick from someone who displays coins with some detail.

 

^^^ What she said

 

Thanks for the info!

I would not be looking for anything of value, I would want it as I would prefer something that would be cool for it's historical significance and a thing to research.

 

There is also a Dr. Kurlan who advertises regularly in Numismatic news and sells by the lot. But, same thing as above, they are cheap, need cleaning and are usually smalls.

 

A tip that someone gave me was this, instead of buying a lot of ebay, contact a seller who is dealing in uncleaned lots and ask them how much they would charge for (say) 10 or 20 coins with some detail. You may pay a little more but you are less likely to end up with a blank piece of metal.

If any seller claims that in past lots buyers have found silver or gold, please stay away from them. These coins will have been picked over many times before they get to you. The people doing the picking know what they are looking for.

Once you have your coins, come back here for tips on cleaning. There is a lot of rubbish on the internet that will leave you with nothing but a ruined coin.

Welcome to the dark side

 

These are the two I'm looking at

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LARGE-UNCLE...658?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item56717156d2

Leaning at this one though.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Uncleaned-R...529?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43d5d28d21

Any other lots you would prefer.

 

To be perfectly honest with you I wouldn't touch either of them. You don't know what you are going to get, there is a lot of rubbish in there and they are showing nicer coins on top (they always do) and trust me, you are highly unlikely to get those.

Have a look at
http://www.dirtyoldcoins.com/

Good reputation, you are unlikely to be disappointed.

 

incredible coins compared to those listing on Ebay. I'm a little tempted now.

 

Remember - you get what you pay for!

 

Be tempted!

Ras runs the site. He is also an author of a work called ERIC which lists roman coins and also a website called tantaluscoins. I wouldn't go for his most expensive packages, but certainly the coins around $6 would suit you.

 

The question is whether you want coins or the experience. To take the numbers above, would you prefer to buy 50 uncleaned coins or spend the same money on 10 coins of the common types likely to be found in your uncleaned lots but already cleaned and certainly identifiable. Most of us here have things we wish we had not bought that are still nicer than most of what you get uncleaned. 50 coins at $2 is $100. 10 coins at $10 is the same. I have bought quite a few $10 coins that are presentable. You will lose the 'lottery ticket' feature that one in a million uncleaned coins will be a real winner. You will lose the fun of the chase. You will end up with fewer but nicer coins. Which is better for you also depends on where you live. For example, I am attending a big coin show in Baltimore on March 28. I will see at least a hundred nice coins at $10 (and thousands at more). Patience requires me to wait until the 28th but that evening the coins will be finished products. If I were you I would spend that $100 on 5 $20 coins or 10 $10 coins even if you did not get to participate in their selection (just like you don't with uncleaned) but I am not you. The questions are What you want, Where you are, Why you are interested and When you want to have the finished product.

Several years ago, I posted a 'report' on buying coins at a show. Since then prices have gone up or what you get for the same money has gone down but the concept remains. In 2011, I did it again showing lesser coins. Perhaps it is time to see what I can but for $100 again?
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/acmshow.html
http://www.forumancientcoins.com/dougsmith/coinshow2011.html

 

I began collecting ancients via uncleaned coins, early May 2013. The idea of cleaning, identifying, and learning about them was very exciting. I bought from "good" sellers and from random eBay sellers. There was not much difference; they were all disappointing. Here's a recap of "my first dirties". Few of them cleaned up much beyond the as-received images; fewer are worth bothering to photograph after cleaning. I wasn't patient or good with cleaning but if a year of soaking in oil or water doesn't change anything... it's a lost cause. "Uncleaned" is also a myth. All such uncleaned coins have been cleaned to some degree-- enough to get at least a general idea of what the coin is, or if it is markedly improvable.

The following coins were all from Dirty Old Coins, imaged before attempted cleaning. I bought a few from each category. The Greek coins, at $12 per slug, were particularly sad. I don't regret dabbling in cleaning ancient coins but I certainly wouldn't do it again. Some forum members are quite adept at finding good uncleaned coins-- and then expertly cleaning them. Still other members are good at patiently searching eBay for truly good coins at great prices. I'm sure @Mat , @ValiantKnight , and others have purchased many already-cleaned and markedly better coins without spending much more per coin.












If for some reason I did want to try cleaning coins again, I would buy an imaged lot to prevent getting more $12 Greek slugs. That second eBay link looks like it has some coins that may clean up well.

I had far more fun buying several large "mixed lots". Most of the coins were unattributed and I learned quite a bit in the process of discovering what they were. Perhaps you'd get more joy and education from buying a small assortment of already cleaned but unattributed ancient coins.

 

Very nice, informative post. Thank you for taking the time.

 

I can only echo what the others have said. No more uncleaned lots for me. I have had enough of slugs and culls. But I will say, the thrill of the chase doesn't end because you are buying better, cleaned coins. It's just a different chase. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.