Lysimachus Tetradrachm

[Ryro]

1 hour ago, DimitriosL said:

Is there anyone on this site, who actually collects and or specializes in Macedonian/Thracian coins that would drop 250€ (before juice and shipping) on this buster? 

I am often wrong, but I do and would not. 

[ominus1]

48 minutes ago, DimitriosL said:

Yeah seems fair, but once again I was limited. Maybe I should begin with roman issues, denarii perhaps, and when I have more money to spare go for the white whales.

i say shoot for the whales but also still aim a little lower in the mist and bring something home occasionally ..that's what i'm doing at the moment:)

[akeady]

The obverse of the original coin is nice - I'd leave it obverse-up in the tray if I owned it.

I don't know what things cost any more - I posted this coin in another thread a few days ago - it cost less than £300 including fees in August 2013 and is the plate coin in HGC Vol. 3, part 2 for no. 1493.   I guess I could get more for it now!

ATB,
Aidan.

[Edessa]

Much of the time horn silver is quite soft and comes off easily when soaked in a warm sodium thiosulphate solution. But I recently worked on a RR Denarius that had thick and hard deposits. After three months of fiddling with it for 30 minutes at a time several days a week, I finally gave up and sold it for a small amount. The coin had become quite presentable, however it still had quite a bit of horn silver obscuring some details of the design. Sorry, I did not take any pictures.

Aidan, I am very fortunate to not be in the position to have to estimate ancient coin values for a living. With the recent market volatility, I feel for those who do. But I will take a shot at your coin. If slabbed NGC Choice VF in a Heritage auction, it would go for at least $600 with the juice. If it received a star, which it very well might, it could go for closer to $1000. Just my opinion, heavily influenced by having my bids slaughtered in most of the recent auctions.

[DimitriosL]

3 hours ago, Edessa said:

Much of the time horn silver is quite soft and comes off easily when soaked in a warm sodium thiosulphate solution. But I recently worked on a RR Denarius that had thick and hard deposits. After three months of fiddling with it for 30 minutes at a time several days a week, I finally gave up and sold it for a small amount. The coin had become quite presentable, however it still had quite a bit of horn silver obscuring some details of the design. Sorry, I did not take any pictures.

Aidan, I am very fortunate to not be in the position to have to estimate ancient coin values for a living. With the recent market volatility, I feel for those who do. But I will take a shot at your coin. If slabbed NGC Choice VF in a Heritage auction, it would go for at least $600 with the juice. If it received a star, which it very well might, it could go for closer to $1000. Just my opinion, heavily influenced by having my bids slaughtered in most of the recent auctions.

Thank you very much! Is this solution dangerous? Do you need ptrotective equipment? Do parts of the coins surface merge with the horn and come of when you cure it (similar to bronze desease)?

[Edessa]

8 hours ago, DimitriosL said:

Thank you very much! Is this solution dangerous? Do you need protective equipment? Do parts of the coins surface merge with the horn and come of when you cure it (similar to bronze desease)?

Not at all dangerous. Makes the horn silver softer, where it may be removed slowly with a rag or q-tip. I have also used baking soda as a fine abrasive when rubbing the coin. The coin silver comes off in very thin layers that results in a grey residue on your cleaning materials. It is, generally, a slow process and you must have both patience and the good sense to know when to stop. Plan for several sessions over a period of weeks. 

At times the horn silver may be covering up surface damage or porosity that, visually, you would rather not see. Occasionally I have had the remaining horn silver tone darkly quite rapidly. As with most coin cleaning, there really isn't an easily defined end point and overcleaning can leave you with something worse than you began with. I have one nice Alexandria Tetradrachm of Claudius that I plan to send to Brad Bowlin or someone else well practiced in this arcane art as I don't trust myself with such a potentially nice coin. 

[DimitriosL]

12 minutes ago, Edessa said:

Not at all dangerous. Makes the horn silver softer, where it may be removed slowly with a rag or q-tip. I have also used baking soda as a fine abrasive when rubbing the coin. The coin silver comes off in very thin layers that results in a grey residue on your cleaning materials. It is, generally, a slow process and you must have both patience and the good sense to know when to stop. Plan for several sessions over a period of weeks. 

At times the horn silver may be covering up surface damage or porosity that, visually, you would rather not see. Occasionally I have had the remaining horn silver tone darkly quite rapidly. As with most coin cleaning, there really isn't an easily defined end point and overcleaning can leave you with something worse than you began with. I have one nice Alexandria Tetradrachm of Claudius that I plan to send to Brad Bowlin or someone else well practiced in this arcane art as I don't trust myself with such a potentially nice coin. 

Very useful!