Author's Note: This guide was written in the late spring of 2006 and prices on ancient coins have risen dramatically, especially on the uncleaned coins in this guide.  Most of these coins come from or through Europe, and the weakness of the dollar versus the Euro has caused a price increase of 30 to 40 percent for Americans.  I feel like I experienced a special moment for the hobby from 2004 to 2006.

I sold this coin for over 40 dollars, and I bought it for $3.50!

Part 1. WHAT YOU SHOULD EXPECT TO GET

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There are two things I want when I purchase uncleaned coins.  The first is reasonable description from the seller, and the second is good coins.  These two things tend to go hand in hand.  The first thing I watch out for is anything that looks too good to be true! 

If someone claims that gold is being found in their uncleaned coin lots they are either lying or cutting three dollar Indian fannams in half and sticking them into the lots!  The reason you will not find a legitimate ancient gold coin in a lot of uncleaned coins is chemistry, dirt doesn't stick to gold!  When you dig gold out of the ground it still looks like gold, because gold is a noble metal and doesn't corrode, and no one in their right mind will sell you a gold coin for under two dollars! 

What I want from a lot of uncleaned ancient coins are some nice, attributable bronze coins; preferably with a few unusual coins, or some rare emperors. 

Part 2. HOW TO CLEAN UNCLEANED COINS

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You should soak them in distilled water.  Please don't use tap water, it will not work.  The reason distilled water works is because the molecules in distilled water haven't bonded to minerals, so distilled water actually reacts chemically with uncleaned coins by bonding with the mineral deposits on the coins, and in the process softening the deposits so you can remove them.

I use brass cleaning tools, because brass tools are generally harder than the deposits and softer than the coins and their patinas!  So you can press relatively hard with them and not ding the surface of the coin.  If the coin is corroded, or otherwise weak you can still damage them with brass tools.  Do not use brass tools on a silver coin.  Brass tools are perfect for cleaning between the letters, and into the detailed areas of the hair, mouth, and eye, because most other tools with scratch the coin when pushed into a tiny grooved area, but the brass generally just removes the deposit and leaves the coin itself intact.  Also brass tools are easy to resharpen with a file or a whetstone.  I have both scraping and picking brass tools.  One is made from quarter inch striping and one is made from a medium gage wire, both are ground - one to an edge like a knife and one to a point.

I use a brass brush for the same reason as the tools.  If I am cleaning something really delicate like a silvered coin I will use a toothbrush, and just take my time and be patient. 

REVISIONS:  It has come to my attention that pen brushes with acrylic bristles are considered to be superior to my suggestion: the toothbrush, they are stiffer than a toothbrush and will not scratch the coin, so they are more effective.  You can also cut the bristles on a toothbrush so that they become shorter and stiffer.  Also there is a silver brush available that is used as a finishing brush after you use the brass brush, I do not own one but many people swear by them. 

I also have a magnifying glass so I can read the letters, and do the very final cleaning detail work.

You will want to be able to identify your uncleaned coins so two useful guides that I use regularly are: Handbook of Roman Imperial Coins by David Van Meter and Greek Coins and Their Identification by Richard Plant.  The covers -

Part 3. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE VARIOUS TYPES OF UNCLEANED COINS

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  The first thing you may want to know is - What kind of metal are these coins made of?  Sometimes it is hard to tell from photographs, but there is a series of abbreviations that let you know what metal you're dealing with - AE is Bronze; AR is Silver; AV is Gold, and there is fourth catagory called Billion which means either that the coin has a low silver content or that it was washed in silver.  Saying a coin is washed in silver is a little like saying it is silver plated.   

  Most uncleaned ancient coins come from the Balkans, sometimes the sellers call it Dacia.  These are the most common variety of uncleaned coins, and if you are willing to buy a thousand at a time you can get a thousand of them for 750 dollars.  They are typically resold, by the people who buy the bags of a thousand, for between 1.20 to 2.00 dollars, all these coins will be very similar, there will not be too much of a difference between coins that cost a dollar twenty and two dollars.  Some very reputable dealers will occasionally have coins that are worth paying more for, but you should know these dealers beforehand from experience.

  Uncleaned coins that come from Spain, the Middle East, Austria, and England all generally cost more than the Balkan variety.  All of these coins will be around 2.00 to 2.50.  Coins from Spain are the most desirable, because the dry climate has kept them very well preserved.  Middle Eastern coins are also well preserved because of the very dry climate, and you can find unusual late emperors; I've found several Honorius and Arcadius coins in Middle Eastern lots, and they are the least expensive of the four types mentioned in this paragraph.  Both Spanish and Middle Eastern uncleaned coins often possess a patina highly valued by collectors that has a sandy color and texture.  Austrian coins are generally very interesting, and I like to clean them, the emperor Aurelian seems to be more common in these lots, and that is desirable because Aurelian reformed coinage and produced nicer, larger coins.  British coins can be the most challenging of uncleaned coins because of the soil conditions in England.  The patinas tend to be more fragile because of the acidic nature of the soil in England, and are not my first recommendation for newcomers to uncleaned coins.  But they also yield some of the rarest finds in Usurpers and new mints that you will not generally find in the Balkan lots.

  Holyland uncleaned coins will surprise you with the variety of different coins you can find in one lot.  They could contain: Greek, Roman, Provincial, Jewish, Islamic, and Byzantine coins.  It was a center for trade and many different cultures sprang from this area.  Holyland uncleaned coin lots will contain a rich variety of coins!  This is a nice way to start if you haven't found something you want to focus on, it's like the appetizer plater at a chain restaurant - a little bit of everything.

  Understanding the sizes of coins is very important, and often overlooked aspect until you get a couple of batches of very small coins because you didn't know what an AE 5 was!  The following sizes are not fully agreed upon in the coin community, but generally accurate -

AE 1, larger than 25mm     AE 2,  21-25mm     AE 3,  17-21mm     AE 4, under 17mm    

AE 5, around 10mm or smaller 

  Coins come in different varieties besides place of origin, there are Large coins, these are the most expensive and cost at least 4.00 dollars, usually these are earlier Roman coins, and you can find a lot of really interesting early emperors, I've found Claudius, Hadrian, and Commodus in these lots.  There are coins sold as Premium, these coins should be mostly clean before you get them, and you should be able to attribute them rather easily.  There are coins known as Crusties, these are beloved by coin cleaning fanatics, and you'll be in a bidding war if you want some of these, because they are the true scratch tickets of the uncleaned coin world.  The thick layer of dirt and deposits on their surfaces make it impossible to know what is underneath, so no one has picked through them and removed the silver coins and rare emperors before they are sold to the final consumer, you and I.  There are coins usually called Little, but technically known as AE 5, that are from the waning days of the Roman Empire and they sometimes contain rare emperors or monograms, but these coins require a lot of patience and access to research material to fully appreciate.  It takes an offbeat personality to clean and attribute Provincial coins, these coins are notoriously hard to identify, but often are rare and interesting; they were issued by the outlying provinces of the Roman Empire.

  Greek and Byzantine coins are harder to come by, and usually more expensive than Roman coins.  Greek coins, from before and during the early Roman Empire, tend to be twice as thick as regular uncleaned coins, and the legends on them are hard to decipher because the text is in Greek and not Latin.  Latin is pretty easy to figure out once you get the hang of it, but Greek remains elusive because it uses a different alphabet.  They are also harder to clean than Roman coins because their surfaces are often fragile and powdery.  Byzantine coins are from after the Roman Empire dissolved, and are generally large coins with Christian themes, these are particularly hard to attribute, often they are referred to as anonymous because the kings were showing modesty towards God, and instead of inscribing their own name wrote +IhSuS XRISTuS bASILEu bASILE, which translates as Jesus Christ King of Kings.

  That's the best summary I can give you.

Good Luck, and Happy Cleaning!  bdpashtun, aka Bill Donovan

bdpashtun's about me page

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