Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="John Anthony, post: 2274273, member: 42773"]The new style Athenian tet that Bing posted is technically not a case of reticulation, but of pitting. Reticulation occurs when impurities in the alloy leach out of the coin over many centuries. Typically, pitting is the result of the cleaning away of dirt and mineral deposits on coin, deposits which have settled into the surfaces. When they're removed, they leave much larger holes than what we refer to as porosity. This sort of pitting is sometimes completely unavoidable - sometimes coins are so encrusted with dirt, that any sort of cleaning leaves the surfaces permanently scarred. Here is a coin I sold recently, which is magnificent in style, strike, and patina, but the surfaces are finely pitted because of the cleaning it once received... [ATTACH=full]453448[/ATTACH] Tiberius, AD 14-37Ae as, 11g, 28mm, 6h; Rome mint: c. 22/23 AD - 26.Obv.: DIVUS AVGVSTVS PATER; Radiate head of Augustus left.Rev.: Altar enclosed with double panelled door, uncertain ornaments above; S - C // PROVIDENTReference: RIC I Tiberius 81 (p. 99).[/QUOTE]