A large group of uncleaned ancients

[the_Thing ®]

A dealer I do business with in the Middle East is selling LARGE lots of uncleaned coins that are mixtures of Roman, Seleukid, Judaean, Byzantine, Arab Byzantine, Abbasid, Ummayed, Mamluk, Ayyubid, Early Ottoman, Crusader, Roman Porvincial, Phoenican and others. These are the "real deal" when it comes to uncleaned coins. You can buy in lots of 10's or 1000's. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll direct you to his webpage.

[JamminJ]

Have you ever tried a batch of uncleaned ancients? If so, what did you find?

I'd be interested in browsing the website.

 

-JamminJ

[the_Thing ®]

Here is his webpage with the coins...

 

web page

 

 

I've messed with some uncleaned lots before. Patience is the main thing. You can clean them quick, but you can also ruin any patina that might add to the coins value. My preferred method of cleaning is soaking them in olive oil. It takes about 8 months to get them clean, but you have a much nicer coin when you are done as compared to quick cleaning with lemon juice or some other acid.

[JamminJ]

They look like mostly bronze coins. Is this true for most lots of uncleaned coins?

Still, at less than a buck a pop I see how it could be fun to de-crustify a few.

 

-JamminJ

[the_Thing ®]

I would guess they are all bronze, but I'm sure some silver is in there. Maybe gold, but I doubt it. If you think about it though, if you buy 1000 coins at .50 each, there is room for profit, since even the most common widow mite sales for at least $8.00 on ebay. And, many of those coins certainly are widow mites. I can see several in his scans.

[JamminJ]

I've been thinking about trying a medium sized batch. Have you ever had any problems (customs, etc.) getting stuff shipped from the Middle East?

 

-JamminJ

[shirohniichan]

I've been thinking about trying a medium sized batch. Have you ever had any problems (customs, etc.) getting stuff shipped from the Middle East?

 

-JamminJ

 

I'd be interested in getting some, too. JamminJ, let me know if you order some.

 

-ShamminS

[the_Thing ®]

Hey JJ and Shiro. I've never had problems getting stuff from the middle east. I've only gotten one package that Customs has ever opened, but still received everything fine. Over the years I've probably gotten 30 + packages from the Middle East.

[shirohniichan]

Hey JJ and Shiro. I've never had problems getting stuff from the middle east. I've only gotten one package that Customs has ever opened, but still received everything fine. Over the years I've probably gotten 30 + packages from the Middle East.

 

Since you have done business with this dealer before, can you tell us about what you received? Have you ever ordered one of these lots before?

[JamminJ]

I've been thinking about trying a medium sized batch. Have you ever had any problems (customs, etc.) getting stuff shipped from the Middle East?

 

-JamminJ

 

I'd be interested in getting some, too. JamminJ, let me know if you order some.

 

-ShamminS

 

How many are you looking to buy?

 

-JamminJ

[shirohniichan]

I've been thinking about trying a medium sized batch. Have you ever had any problems (customs, etc.) getting stuff shipped from the Middle East?

 

-JamminJ

 

I'd be interested in getting some, too. JamminJ, let me know if you order some.

 

-ShamminS

 

How many are you looking to buy?

 

-JamminJ

 

Mmmm... How about 50? I could go with as few as 10, though.

[the_Thing ®]

I've never purchased any uncleaned lots, but he is a well respected dealer. Vcoins, where many ancient dealers have their online stores won't let just anyone become a member. He is also on the ACM-L and the Montea-L yahoogroup lists and seems to be held in good regard.

[the_Thing ®]

Here is a list of Vcoin dealers Vcoins They include the big names like CNG, Berk etc......

[the_Thing ®]

JJ, if you or Shiro do buy some coins, I can help you ID any biblical, crusader, and roman coins.

[JamminJ]

JJ, if you or Shiro do buy some coins, I can help you ID any biblical, crusader, and roman coins.

 

Cool! I think it will be fun to try to attribute whatever emerges from the patina. I'm leaning towards buying a batch, maybe 250 or 500, with Shiroh getting his 10-50.

 

-JamminJ

[gmarguli]

How many of these are going to be the tiny (3c silver) sized ones?

[the_Thing ®]

How many of these are going to be the tiny (3c silver) sized ones?

 

If his pics are accurate, I would say maybe 20% or less.

[JamminJ]

How many of these are going to be the tiny (3c silver) sized ones?

 

Are those little guys widow's mites? Thing is right, they sell for $8 on e-bay.

 

-JamminJ

[the_Thing ®]

No, the small ones are late roman empire issues. But, some of them are worth some money. Widow mites are about the size of a U.S. dime or a bit bigger.