Starting a collection

[lotuskid]

Got loads of foreign coins but nothing very old.

Was looking around on fleabay & saw people selling uncleaned & unsorted roman coins. I'd guess that unsorted means that they've checked there's no gold or silver coins & only bronze are included.

I do quite like the idea of not knowing what it'll be until it's cleaned, but was wondering if it's value

for money or not? Coins were around 50p to £2 each.

I don't really want to collect coins because they're worth alot but more because i like the look, if you

know what i mean.

So..... is it worth paying upto £2 for these? Is there much chance they'll turn out half decent once all

the dirt is removed?

Thanks.

Tony

[Chris Perkins]

Some do, some don't. A lot of sellers sell coins that they can tell are not going to reveal much detail. Some sellers sort more than others, I suppose you probably get what you pay for.

It is fun though, scrubbing them up to reveal what they are for the first time in probably 1500+ years.

[Millimoo]

As a rule, if the coins are sold blind, "1 from the 10,000 in the picture" they will more than likely be rubbish.

Try to find someone selling a small group, where you can see the picture of the coins being sold, and try to buy some with as much detail as possible.

If you stick with this, you will probably end up with some nice, recognisable, small bronze Roman coins, not really worth a great deal, but dripping with History. Every now and then you will find something a little bit special, maybe a rare reverse, or one of the lesser know emperors - but you need to be able to ID the coin first - so go for the detail!

Most of the really cheap bulk lots come from the Balkans, they have ALL been sorted through, there will be NO gold, No silver and very few larger Bronze denominations. If you are going this way, it's best to find the guys who have bought the bulk lots of the nicer bulk coins from the Balkan dealers, rather than the cheap bulk lots! If you look around, especially at US ebay, you will find a couple of decent sellers of this kind.

I'd recommend you first buy Chris's Roman Bronze book too at £6 it's a bargain, as you will need to know what you are looking at and what you are looking for!

Dave

[Geordie582]

I have bought 'uncleaned' lots, but usually because I've spotted one of the bunch I'm interested in (always provided the auction doesn't decide to go astronomical!) By the way, I got the coin I use as my avatar in such an 'uncleaned' lot!

[scottishmoney]

Check out Vcoins.com, there are many dealers on there selling bulk lots of dirty old romans for less than 50p apiece. My son got one of the filthy Romans, we worked with him, got him identified and gave him a good home.

[lotuskid]

Thanks everyone for the great info.

I've had a look through lots of the other posts & understand about not cleaning coins.

But if i get some of these kind of coins then they've got to be cleaned up to identify them.

After looking around on the net i've read lots of conflicting information about what & what not

to do & i don't want to ruin a good coin.

So what works safely? Olive oil? Water? Electrolosis? Vinegar? Cola? Soda? WD40?

Its all very confusing.

I've got lots of shillings & sixpences that look almost black. Any ideas why and are they best left as

they are?

Thanks again.

[TomGoodheart]

I've got lots of shillings & sixpences that look almost black. Any ideas why and are they best left as

they are?

Depends on the age. Silver (pre 1920 .925, 1920-1947 50:50 Silver/CuNi) coins will tone/tarnish. Eventually if left to their own devices and in the 'right' conditions they'll turn black.

Basically if the coin is decent enough to make it collectable like these two, don't touch it!!!