..for the dealer. Here's an example of a coin that had a fake patina applied. It hid so much detail! The image is photo of the paper receipt but I think you get my point.
I don't think sand or dirt (whatever) is patina. Now the question is why would a seller hide such a nice coin?
I wish my Antiochus VI looked like that after I removed my fake desert patina. Got this coin when I was less experienced, and realized yesterday that it looked off. I gave it an acetone dip and the dirt just peeled away. I got it from a VCoins dealer known for this type of stuff (Hint: their name starts with a Z!). Here are some photos Before Acetone - Seemingly nice desert patina! After Acetone - The coin looks much worse in person, and the surface is quite rough. (Some of the patina fell off after acetone, not sure if this was being held on by the sand, or just my fault.) I will stay away from desert patinas for a while lol!
Yeah, just a bit frustrating. learned a lot from the whole experience though! Is Goof Off better/safer than Acetone?
Why does anyone use acetone or Goof Off on such coins? Neither one acts directly on inorganic material such as metals. If they remove patina, I would suspect they were messed with by fake addition of corrosion by-products. Goof-OFF has this info. "Goof Off Professional Strength Remover is a trusted product among professional tradesman and Do-It-Yourself project masters to eliminate costly messes and mistakes. It effectively removes the toughest dried latex paint, adhesives, asphalt, and tar." Nothing about metallic residue (patina). IMO Jim
You use acetone to remove artificial patinas that have been "glued" on. Lots of posts about this. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/sol-numismatik-auction.410530/
I agree with you, but I do suspect some people still believe acetone will remove metal. Animals , including us humans produce acetone in metabolism, and metal parts in a person due to health damage don't dissolve .
Does anyone know someone who puts patina on ancient coins for a fee? - yes I know that is heretical but if properly done it can look quite beautiful- but it can involve some nasty chemicals which is why I don’t do it myself A cautionary tale - a friend told me that the best way to put patina on an ancient coin is to get some mud from a river and put the coin in that. So i asked my wife for help - she realized that the mud was perfect for our plants so we gots lots of it and I put the coin in one of the nine or so potted plants we had by the porch. Months and months later I decide to check the coin out but by that time the plants had been rearranged and I could not figure out which pot the coin was in. I searched and searched and searched but no luck - I took those pots apart but - no coin.
Back to the original coin and reverse image. I recently found out that an eight-pointed star is associated with Star of Inanna (aka. Star of Ishtar). If we take Babylonian route then this is a Venus sign which actually fits my main collection. If we take an Egyptian route than this may represent Ogdoad. Ogdoad is related to the creation of the world and represents the 8 gods (4 male, 4 female) of creation. These gods are associated with the 4 elements. Or it could just be a star pattern and nothing more. But I would be hard pressed that it doesn't have a "mysterious" definition.
