Taikonaut

I know it is only a matter of time I get bitten and bought fake Roman coins on ebay. Normally you cant always tell from photos until you see it in hand. While researching online I came across a master faker from Bulgaria by the name of Slavey Petrov. The seller of the fake coin had a very similar surname but is based in Cheshire UK. It does make me think does Mr Petrov has a UK office to sell his creation?

It is a copy of a gold aureus. I use to have an Augustus and Tiberius version of this bought 35yrs ago on a school trip at the English Heritage centre in Chester next to the Roman amphiteatre.

I've been trying toning ancient silver recently. I just don't like the clean look. I'm getting mix result usually takes several attempt and its more accidental getting there. My preference are light to medium even tone and have been using liver of sulphur. The mixture and temp need to be perfected though. Any clue?

Afraid so. I work at the uni but live on the Wirral. The curator Pat, she left about 6yrs ago and went into acting. You probably see her in "Woman in Black" with Daniel Radcliffe

They opened a new museum on the ground floor 2 years ago. Mainly Roman coins about a few dozen overall.

Did you see the Attica coin? I'm still on the fence if it is real or a very good Victorian copy.

Its from the Jeff Michniak Collection. I thnk it could be the way it was photographed and different lighting.

I visited the Garstang museum in Liverpool recently and they had a collection of Roman coins. What I notice is all the denarius had similar dark blue even tone all over regardless of age. I'm guessing that they were probably "cleaned" when first aquired but overtime they all gained a tone at the same rate because they were all under one collection and housed in the same environment for the last 100yrs?

So why is it cleaned?

I like to ask why is ancient roman coins particularly silver ones many look clean? I mean surely they don't come out of the ground looking like that.

This coin of Titus with Cos V which should be AD 76. I think it is Titus as Caesar but struck under the reign of Vespasian http://www.museuarqueologia.pt/?a=3&x=2&i=247

Is this Vespasian or Titus?

Hi All, Are these two the same coin? Coin 1 Coin 2 obverse Coin 2 reverse

I find toning more pervasive in Royal Mint proof coins from the last 20yrs. Either the capsule is the cause or the minting process is leaving contaminant.

I see the last series of Beatrix Potter coloured silver 50p proofs has been sold out at the RM website http://www.royalmint.com/shop/u/uk173rsp Also pre-ordered coins are already selling on ebay at well above what they were sold for at RM. I was lucky to pre-order a subscription just before it was sold out. The Peter Rabbit 2016 silver proof coloured 50p is going for crazy prizes

Korehira Watanabe was a student of the late living national treasure smith Miyairi Akihira. He entered into a career into swordmaking following the 70s sword boom. In the annual sword contest in Japan he has won a couple of 3rd prizes over his career. It is worth noting smiths of the Miyairi school is known for producing quality traditionally made swords and the top smiths from that same school, Kawachi Kunihira and Miyiari Kei are both multiple 1st prize winners no less than 5-7 times each and no longer subject their work to judgement. Sorry for being off topic

Still very curious how my older proof coins that are decades old are free from discolour/toning yet new more recent proofs suffer from it. Could it be modern mints contain contaminants in the water/chemical that "washes the coin" during production? I collect Japanese swords (genuine hand forged ones) when they are in fresh polish it looks like the finish in proof coins. We need to treat it by adding and removing oil daily for the first three weeks to expell moisture of water that was use with the various grades of polishing stones. If we don't do that it will allow rust to develop over short period of time.

I store my proofs in capsule and case that it came with sometimes not in very well controlled temperature and they all survived well without discolour or toning. The only discolouration proof I had was a gold Chinese Panda dated 1999 that came with it sealed plastic wrapper which developed discolouration about 15yrs ago so I opened the wrapper and soaked the coin in warm water with washing up liquid, rinsed and dried in microfibre cloth and left the coin in my Nichols coin cabinet for the last 15 years and it is still as good as new. I think discolour not unlike rust if not checked early can grow and become toning and more robust.

This is not something we should encourage but if needed when should we do it? I have very few proofs I kept for years and all of them remain prestine. I bought some proofs from various sources lately and notice light toning. I was even told that toning on proofs from the Royal Mint occur quite frequently over time. Maybe the capsule are not very good? I decide to carefully apply alcoholic wipe on a couple of affected proofs and rinse it under a tap then dapped dry with microfibre cloth. The tone is mostly gone and I notice no discernable effect. I was a bit taken back how easy the toning or disclouring come away.

Still not found a £2 Magna Carta in circulation. I guess the RM never had the chance to release it to the banks in my area before they were snapped up. The 4th portrait version is a bit of an anomaly because that might be the version originally intended for release so it ended up with the sets while it was struck in 2014 for early 2015 release, but when it came to actually releasing the coin for circulation towards the middle of 2015 that was made during that same year the 5th portrait came into use instead. This makes the 4th portrait £2 Magna Carta a trial piece.... I don't know how many BU £2 Magna Carta set and individual collector edition with the 4th portrait were made but I would bet it is much lower than the 1,495,000 5th portrait. Might worth looking out for?

Don't blame you for wanting to save money from buying a new one. Prices have risen substantially over the past 12 months

Even though I keep my cabinet away from direct sunlights in the last 25 years when I compare the shade from inside and outside the door I can see how much the wood has lightened over time. A collection of old pennies can be pretty heavy. Are you having a pair of brass handles fitted? I wonder how much they charge for that?

The instruction came in an envelope along with the Chrozier. I no longer have it but it mention about how the finish was achieved through a number of process and then sealed with varnish. In giving the advice of treating it with bees wax with wire wool overtime will bring out the lustre, I got the impression Peter is saying the finish is not there yet and you need to put in some elbow grease to get that high end furniture look. And he was right. The crude varnish surface was completely taken care of. It came out with a surface smooth to the touch and look great. I originally use Briwax but it leaves residue and you need to remove all of it otherwise it hardens and becomes difficult. Recently I discovered Antiquax Brown which are silicone free and has dark wood staining quality which works a treat. Mahogany that are stained, such as these cabinets, becomes lighter when exposed to frequent daylights so this wax help restore its original shade and irmprove it.

When I bought my Nichols cabinet 25yrs ago it had a care instruction note from Peter about how to take care of it by regular use of bees wax on the cabinet (not the trays) ideally with the finest wire wool. It took another 10yrs until I actually followed through that advise and turned the rough original varnish into a smooth surface. I used wire wool twice and no more as I feel it is not necessary to wear down the surface. Only waxed it once every 5 years since. How do you take care of your cabinet?

Unlike the current maker, the trays on Peter's cabinet has exposed tray holders with visible gaps between. I always wonder if this was a design oversight as it does not look flush and pleasing compare to other cabinets. Since Peter has been making them for decades I also wonder if that is done deliberately for ventilation purpose? The last thing anyone want is your coins suffer discolouration because gas being trapped.