The Art of Cleaning Roman Coins
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 พ.ค. 2024
- This video explores the techniques of cleaning and identifying Roman coins.
Sponsored by Blinkist: use this link to start your 7-day free trial of Blinkist, and to get 25% off a premium membership: www.blinkist.com/toldinstone
I'd like to thank Nerocoins (www.nerocoins.com/) and Noble Roman Coins (nobleromancoins.com/) for their help with this video. I also like to thank the Classical Numismatics channel here on TH-cam for their excellent drawings. If you're interested in buying a T-shirt with one of those drawings (or images from dozens of other ancient coins), you can purchase them here: leob.creator-spring.com/
Finally, I'd like to thank Shawn Caza, author of "A Handbook of Late Roman Bronze Coin Types, 324-395," for his comments on my script.
Please consider supporting toldinstone on Patreon:
/ toldinstone
If you liked this video, you might also enjoy my book “Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants: Frequently Asked Questions about the Ancient Greeks and Romans.”
www.amazon.com/Naked-Statues-...
If you're so inclined, you can follow me elsewhere on the web:
/ toldinstone
/ toldinstone
/ 20993845.garrett_ryan
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:39 Buying uncleaned coins
1:31 Equipment
1:52 Patience is a virtue
2:18 Washing and soaking coins
2:50 Protecting the patina
4:12 Blinkist
5:09 Mechanical cleaning
6:36 Avoid chemicals
7:04 Cleaning a dupondius of Hadrian
7:59 Basic attribution
8:29 Dupondius redux
9:19 A coin from the frontier
10:36 A follis of Galerius
11:37 Conclusion
Thanks for watching!
Use this link to start your 7-day free trial of Blinkist, and to get 25% off a premium membership: www.blinkist.com/toldinstone
Just touching something touched & used by someone hundreds or a thousand years ago is cool. I used to care to sift thru US coins for listed Rare mints but now don't care unless I run across a known image that's rare for nickels like Buffaloes.
@@klyanadkmorr yepp and if the coins survived in far future, it means someone will touch them which you touched.
You are quite bold, laundering money in the open.
In some countries they torture people to death for puns like that.
@@johnladuke6475 where? lmaoo there's no way
@@johnydelgado7901 No eres serio, señor delgado…
🤣
Brilliant!
One has to wonder how many hands those coins passed thru and all the things they purchased before they finally ended up on your TH-cam video. That's why I love history.
Probably a prostitute
@@SQVANTCH I'm sure each coin went thru many prostitutes. It was extremely common.
I love it too. Art treasure black market is just a part of it...
Drugs and hookers. Like all money
I wonder when the coins transferred from being the things used to purchase items to being the items purchased.
Holding a Roman coin in my hands is always really neat. Just thinking about where the coin mightve been or who could've held that same coin just over 1,800 years ago blows my mind every time. Part of why I love collecting ancient coins. Especially how influential Roman money still is to this very day.
do you find them or buy them
I restore and sell ancient Roman coins
Ancient greek coins get to even over 2000 years old. Fun stuff.
The title actually describes it rather nicely, cleaning coins is an "art".
Its definitely not for everyone, it takes a fair dose of patience and personal learning from experience.
I particularly admit I dont have the patience for it, and I greatly admire those who can do it, after all, it is thanks to these people that more coins are restored to their former glory and go out there for collectors like us to enjoy.
Thanks a lot for another great video! :)
Thanks for contributing to the video!
Your drawings of the figures on the coins are fantastic!
Not for me! I envy those with the patience to do this. My 20 year old is one, and brilliant to boot. I'm a lucky dad. I just ordered from Nero Coins for a gift.
I bought my first roman coin on eBay last night and I don't think I can put into words just how excited I am for it to arrive. It's a copper radiate from the self-proclaimed Augustus Carausius' reign in Britain. I bought one that was already cleaned because I don't think I'm familiar enough with the coinage yet to start cleaning my own, but this video is saved for when I feel ready!
Absolutely fascinating. I’ve wanted to try this for years. Decades actually. You have shown me where, how, and how much. I will order my first batch today. Thank you
Do NOT order from sellers who claim "gold found". They lie and do not deserve our business.
I played at buying uncleaned Roman, Greek, Middle Eastern, and Indian coins when eBay was young. Cleaning them was an interesting period of experimentation, I tried everything from electrolysis to hydrogen peroxide and alcohol. Plus brass brushes, small maple dowels, and #10 copper wire flattened at the end. The cheap Chinese dental picks you can buy for a few bucks work really well as is noted. I never used a hobby knife blade, that looks too capable of ruining a coin in a moment. More power to you if it's working for you, my hands aren't that steady anymore, lol.
One of the sites he links recommends a dull bladed scalpel. Maybe he forgot that bit? I would also be a little too wary to use one otherwise lol
I have that exact Galerius Follis from Heraclea! The guy in Oxford that I bought it from identified it as a Maximianus I coin, but it's identical to yours, so I think he was mistaken. It amazed me when I bought it, still does, that you could buy an actual Roman coin for like 10 or 20 pounds. So cool
That type would not be found for Maximianus; it is too late. It is very common, even for professionals, to get Maximianus and Galerius mixed up.
@@jfranklinrogers1 Type meaning a follis?
Hey I could watch like 3 hours of this. You should definitely do more. I absolutely love to hear the stories of the coins
Thank you so much buddy. I have been keen to buy uncleaned coins but was super nervous about cleaning correctly. Also, may I have your blessings for this, my final year of my PhD. Your channel is a great way to prevaricate and procrastinate in that regard ha ha. Cheers from a fellow history dork.
Best of luck! I remember that final year very well...
The unique sponsorship of a service one might actually use (ie: Not Another VPN) and might not yet know of (ie: Not Skillshare, Squarespace or Raid Shadow Legends) is icing on the cake of this wonderfully niche video.
I bought several coins at Ephesus in Turkey and have one glass intaglio that is beautiful, but I was so afraid to clean it. I love to listen to your videos.
Be careful of tourist fakes!
You've inspired me to to try this out. Just having something from 2000 years ago held and used by someone amazes me.
Awesome stuff! There's something special about old coins as they allow you to touch a tangible relic of a bygone era.
I'm so lucky to have a dug up a mint 4th century Roman in my back garden, I'll post a video of it at some later date, love your videos man!
cool!
Thanks man!
There is something very cool, interesting, almost clandestine etc etc can’t find the right word about this sort of thing. I’ve always thought it would be good to make jewellery, clean coins, collect antiquities. Great video & have just bought all the items needed.
Thanks!
This looks like painstaking work but with fascinating results. Just try to imagine how many ancient people have held these very coins. They're touchstones to western civilization's past.
I love your videos toldinstone. I BEG YOU. PLEASE MAKE MORE COIN AND ECONOMY RELATED VIDEOS. SOOOOOOO GOOOD
Excellent video. I would like to try this, but it is almost impossible to find good uncleaned coins. Most "uncleaned" coins on the market are cleaned coins that just happen to be crappy.
As a history student and (part-time) coin enthusiast, these videos are why I wake up everyday. Thank you for making this!
Really enjoying the series on coins
I can't say how much I enjoy this video. I have cleaned coins (though not Roman) with olive oil. I am looking forward to trying this with some Roman Coins, thanks for the video!
Close to 200K!
Can you do another of your walking in museum videos to celebrate :D?
Any museum.
Love it! We have the same [simple] setup! I thoroughly appreciate your videos, which are not only well narrated, informative, and at times meditative, but also inspiring.
You’ve earned yourself a loyal fan and follower from the Philippines!
Excellent description of how to get started in the hobby of ancient roman coinage. Using this as a primer, I'm not afraid to get started while learning along the way. Thanks!
I bought 3 silver roman coins for €5 each, pretty clean as well. This was about 20 years ago though, I guess before the prices skyrocketed. the reason that they were cheap is because they were from less important 3rd century emperors. I should have bought a few from Trajan or Claudius when they were still affordable
Absolutely fascinating! Thank you very much.
Fascinating once again, I want to try it now.
Ooh, nice! This is just the video I wished for in your last video on Roman coins, thanks!
I always love your videos and you're slowly getting me into the idea of joining you in cleaning/collecting. Spent a while crawling the auction sites you suggested in your other coin collecting video, I like the idea of the more personal involvement you get cleaning dirty batches.
Quick nitpick: try not to rapidly switch from a darker video with coin details (so we get super close to the screen to examine) to a slide with a pure white background, my retina no likey.
This is a hobby that tempted me for a while but I didn't know where to find good coins to clean. Well now I have a place to start thanks :)
It’s so remarkable how old those coins are. Imagine how many hands they’ve been carried by
very informative... Impressive information and well-presented THANKS!!!
Fascinating - liked the wrap up comments - "put down in bars" brought it home to me.
Very timely! Inspired by your recent video on coins I'm actually going to pull the trigger on some -- purely just for collecting -- and I wasn't sure how to clean them. Thank you!
do your research first, there are a lot of fakes on places like eBay. If you don't want to do the work then at least make sure you buy from a reputable dealer with a specialty in ancients!
@@markp44288 I'm going through a reputable dealer, hopefully I'll be fine :-)
That was excellent, thanks. I'm tempted to buy a few.
Wow very interesting those coins are absolutely awesome you're bringing them back to life!
I’ve just ordered your book! Can’t wait to read it on my lunch breaks🤗
I just finished it today… on my lunch break.
Great video, very informative. I’m gonna have to try those techniques on dirty old Roman’s in my collection.
I used to buy from Kevin at Noble Roman Coins a decade ago. Cleaned several thousand Roman coins and took a year off. Just got back into the cleaning just to enjoy the process and was looking to see if anything had changed in 10 years. Not much changed. Nice video, thanks!
Excellent! Thank you!
Interesting!! I ordered some coins from Nero Coins after watching. Curious to see these ancient items.
Thank you! I've been fascinated by ancient coins all my life but couldn't quite get around to figuring out how to type them. I've collected a few Greek silver coins that were already attributed. That was very expensive and turned out to not be so much fun.
Thanks. I just ordered from Nero Coins. My 20 year old son is a brilliant Roman History nut! He loves cleaning the coins. Patience is something I lack, but he can handle it and that seems of utmost importance.
Your channel initially re-sparked my interest in ancient history last year. One of you videos mentioned Roman coinage, so I decided to look it up, as I never anticipated ancient coins were as common or inexpensive as they are. Through that, I found Classical Numismatics, and have started my own ancient coin collection. My first batch of uncleaned Roman (and a few Greek) coins will arrive shortly.
This was a great video, and I understand it is out of the scope of this channel perhaps, but I'd love to see some videos of the coins actually being cleaned, along with more pointers as to what to do and what not to do.
I just watched a video where someone used electrolysis to clean fully cleaned and attributed Roman coins (they looked to be in flips from a dealer), and it shocked me that someone wouldn't know not to do that, so I think the more knowledge you can spread on proper techniques would be great (not to mention Classical Numismatic's videos on care and conservation!)
I'm very glad to hear that my videos have inspired you to collect ancient coins! It's a fascinating (and as you've seen, surprising affordable) hobby. I'm done with coin videos now on TH-cam; but if any of the coins I'm working on comes out especially well in the future, I might feature it on my Instagram account. As for electrolysis - that process is occasionally effective, when you're dealing with a heavily encrusted coin that can't be cleaned by any other means, but usually it just destroys both the coin's patina and much of its detail.
Brings me back to my Archaeology Lab days. Did so much of this, though not with coins.
I don't hit "like" often, but you earned this one
Then there was the story of the guy walking along the seashore, skipping stones that he found in an area, minding his own business. When he got home, the one skipping stone he still had in his pocket cracked, and a gold coin was inside.
Good method, but here in Prague, most of such finds have much more volatile patina. It can break on touch. It is due to the soil composition (mostly because of chemicals used during communist era). Artefact preservation labs here in Prague use an ultrasound needle for bronze/copper - the kind that dentist uses to clean teeth plaque. I am seriously thinking about getting one :-) I still would not attempt to clean roman age bronze stuff myself, but try it on slightly modern finds. I hand over the older items to professionals. Sometimes I clean silver roman coins, but only because I have decent skill in cleaning silver and it is much more durable. Bronze is much more fragile, because of our soil conditions. That goes not only for coins, but also fibulae, amulets etc. :/
What are the laws surrounding metal detecting and taking artifacts in Czech Republic? I enjoyed Prague when I visited and would like to do a detecting trip to Europe. My buddy wants to get into the hobby and he speaks Czech and Russian so that is probably a country that we would take a trip to.
@@Tippet76 it is illegal by law, but a lot of people do it anyway. I work with museums and archaeological centre, which is the only institution which can allow you to detect certain areas. You cannot detect near historical heritage areas, because near those areas you can get fined with extremely high fine. So TLDR version is - you need someone who can tell you, that the place you picked is probably OK and not part of any heritage area. And in case you find something older (medieval or ancient), you bring it to local museum. ✌️
@@CarpathianCZ Thank you, I appreciate it.
I'd think that a tour offering coin hunting would be a huge hit. It would be so neat to cap off tours of ancient architecture with a legitimate treasure hunt.
I’ve never been so early before! So excited!!
A travel to history.Awesome coins!👍👍👍
How cool is that - please don’t let this be the only vid on the subject. I absolutely did not know you could buy ancient coins. Where I live everything found is property of the state and should be turned in (we call it danefae). There is no outlet for wears like that to my knowledge. Thanks for the vid and the reference
A cotton bud (Q tip) moistened with water using small circular motions can be pretty good for removing dirt.
Alchohol is better to use for cleaning
Don’t use a high % however
Hey man I bought your book! you rock!
Thumb's up for a very helpful video, and you can count me as subscribed. I'm one of those who'd still been using that olive oil soak, generally recommended in days of yore, on the odd little "Uncleaned Ancients" lots I've gotten from time to time, and without any disasterous results. Yet henceforth I believe I'll try your advice with the distilled water. Thanks again!
Fascinating. I just ordered one on EBay. 😁
Caution, patience and tiny details. I love it. And I love coins. Perhaps you opened the way for a new hobby for me?
I love buying these , something about the prize after cleaning....
Brilliant, I ordered a set of 10 high quality from nerocoins, thanks!
I started cleaning roman coins following this video. There really is a learning curve. I accidentally went a little too much with the x-acto knife and scratched the patina on my first attempt.
Unfortunately the websites you provided are sold out of coins to clean. And coins I got from Ebay were very hit or miss on quality. Can't wait to start cleaning again with lessons learned!
Try a Composite Cleaning pencil w/brass insert. Noble Roman Coins always have decent coins. Nero ripped me off.
Are you watching what ive been browsing this week ?? Ive got a handful of Roman coins that need cleaning so i shall sit back and watch, ive yet to do it and when i do i want to make Sure i do it Correctly and make sure they remain for thousands of more years . Cheers mate .
Nero Coins is almost sold out. I hope they show this channel some love.
Thanks for this. I've just ordered six large uncleaned bronze coins from Nero Coins. It will interesting to see how they clean up.
I didn't know you could get all that crud off. The before and after was insane.
I'm a woodworker and I suggest you Try a easily available bamboo cooking skewer. (found at the grocery store) It has many advantages over a wood toothpick while still being soft. The point is smaller and doesn't go dull. You will love it. So much that you all want to send me a coin ha ha
I love coins, especially silver and gold. I'm in no way an experienced collector and I only have about 20 coins in my collection (mostly American). However, I really like these old Roman coins and your channel is very informative and a pleasure to watch. Thanks for that and It just may get me to buy my first Roman coin. I think I'll have to buy a cleaned one as I don't want to mess one up, lol. Any suggestions for places to buy already cleaned coins? I'm willing to pay up to $100 for a coin.
Back around 2000, I became enthralled by Suetonius's The Twelve Caesars and Robert Graves' I, Claudius. I noticed Forum Royal Coins offered free coin slugs for classes and coaxed a teacher to let me have them sent to her.
With a toothpick, a tooth brush, and olive oil soaks I cleaned many of them up and still have them 22 years later.
Another interesting video
Wow thanks for the good video
The fact that we can still easily own this piece of ancient history amazes me. I wonder what artefacts from even even further back; say Greek or Egyptian are still affordable?
A coin cleaning/restoration video would be intriguing
Amazing
with Roman coins like these, there is something other to keep in mind nl soil condition was the soil mineral-rich or mineral poor.
a coin in wet soil will go through electrolysis either matter is added to the coin or taken away so, how to determine which is which well, you make every shallow scratch on the edge of the coin with a scalpel if the scratch shows the metal immediately then the patina is actually on the added mineral material such a coin can be cleaned to bare metal also when these coins are found by metal detectorists these coins come in a soil or mineral ball the coin inside hasn't degraded and using electrolysis or acid that does not hurt bronze or silver the coin comes out perfect with wear of use if there is any or even mint.
with the second type, the scratch will leave a chalky line with these, just wash and use the method like in the video here because the actual metal is deeper under the actual surface of the coin, the coin has degraded so do not use abrasives acids, or electrolysis you will end up with a near blank disc of metal and the coin will be destroyed.
and when not sure of ether condition use the method of the video.
Thanks!
That's very generous. Thank you!
Hi, nice video. Could you share some links with the tools you suggest to be used? Please? Thanks
Thank you 🙏🏿
FYI, I think numismatist is pronounced without the stress on the 3rd syllable, in a similar fashion and rhythm to how “arithmetic” is pronounced. Fantastic video!
For my money, the best reference guide for Roman imperial coinage is David Sear's 5-volume "Roman Coins & Their Values."
Very cool to see the different stages and tools used to clean those ancient coins, although having video footage of the cleaning process would be quite useful since i'm not sure at which point you should stop scraping at the coin. Like how can you tell you've reached the coin's surface to make sure you're not chipping away at the metal instead of another rock layer?
It's usually obvious - in most cases, the encrusted dirt is a different color from the patina below. You'll also begin to hear a sharper scratching noise when your tool reaches the original metal.
Can you recommend a book to identify Roman coins. Regards and excellent channel!😊
were coins with previous emperors’ heads still considered “legal tender” years and decades after new and different administrations took over?
Yes - although some later emperors made a practice of melting down and reissuing gold coins, most coins remained in circulation. Early imperial bronze coins, in particular, often remained in circulation for centuries.
You also see countermarked coins sometimes, but usually old coins just continued to circulate, sometimes for over a hundred years.
Your videos are the reason I don't get work done around the house. 😂
Nice closing words.
I'm a coin collector, I don't have any ancient coins in my collection, but when I started, I found some wheat pennies in a jar, the oldest one was minted in 1929. I'm inexperienced in the art of coin cleaning and didn't know how I should clean a coin, the wheat pennies I had weren't dirty or green from oxidation, but I put them in water or vinegar (I can't remember which) then I used baking soda or something, then later looking on Google, I saw that unoxidized coins are apparently worth more, even now I can't tell if I should have unoxidized them or not
Cool video, just bought 20 coins for myself from them. New hobby? Watching a bunch of videos to make sure I do them justice.
This is one of the very best videos I have ever seen on TH-cam. Good job and congratulations, if this video gets half the attention it deserves we will probably see the price in uncleaned classical coins rise ever so slightly.
Great video , have you tried the composite cleaning pencil?
I have. I'm more a fan of the scalpel, but composite pencils can very effective if used carefully.
Where do you buy it? I got mys from auctions and i been thinking about cleaning coins but i dont know where to find it uncleaned
Awesome that seems like fun I might try it
All the coins on Earth: SOLD OUT LOL
Nice
I have a few Roman coins but they've already been cleaned. I'd like to go out and find some on my own but for some strange reason South Dakota doesn't seem to have any that I can find.
the journey continues
Question hopefully will be seen. How do you feel about repeated heating of the water in a glass pot to loosen everything up? I saw someone who uses olive oil post online that they also heat and cool the oil a few times. Can you think of any negatives to this? I wouldnt want to thermally shock the metals but I can see heating and cooling perhaps loosening everything a bit better.
I have a nice collection of roman coins. Someday I'll buy some uncleaned ones and give this a go. I already have everything I'd need.
Have you done a video on gold and silver coins yet? Or here is a somewhat different question: Was there a metal used in ancient coins that might look gold colored under its patina other than gold? I got what was supposed to be a cull coin that shows a gold colored metal under one edge after soaking in olive oil for about 6 months. Still pretty crusty though. Much thicker and larger (well, at least perceptibly) than the other
Thank you. I have been cleaning my coins incorrectly.
nice roman coins :)
I use automotive valve grinding compound.
And polish with Red Rouge.
I use a needle, a popsicle stick, a pocket knife and a Harbor Freight $10 Whizzer.