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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;robinjojo, post: 7963640, member: 110226&quot;]Ancient coins, by their very nature, have been around for a while.&nbsp; All sorts of things happen to them from the day they were minted to the day they enter our collections.&nbsp; Most were buried, intentionally or unintentionally, where they were subjected the effects of the elements, as well as the other coins in the hoard, if it is not an individual find.</p><p><br /></p><p>Horn silver is a common occurrence with silver coins.&nbsp; A couple of weeks ago this imitative tetradrachm from the late 5th to mid 4th centuries BC, arrived (dealer&#039;s photo).</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1380642[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>As can be seen there&#039;s a considerable layer of horn silver on the obverse.</p><p><br /></p><p>After over a week of cleaning, most of the horn silver is no longer present.&nbsp; The weight did decrease, from 16.7 grams to 16.34 grams today.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1380643[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>There are some tradeoffs: the cleaning did expose porous surfaces, there is some loss of contrast, and graffiti on the reverse is now visible.&nbsp; But, in the area of the horn silver deposit, something else revealed itself.</p><p><br /></p><p>To the right of Athena&#039;s portrait, there appears to be a Phoenician or Aramaic Gimel:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1380644[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Otherwise, this coin is not very noteworthy.&nbsp; Given its condition I would imagine most TPG services wouldn&#039;t even bother to certify it.&nbsp; But, that is not the point.&nbsp; The point, instead, is the pleasure of collecting ancients that fit your bill.&nbsp; That&#039;s what collecting is all about.</p><p><br /></p><p>Have other CT member discovered new features of a coin as a result of horn silver removal and cleaning?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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