Are you able to enjoy admiring, and perhaps owning, repatinated coins?

[mashumio]

I ask for a specific reason. I was looking at the Leu group lots and saw this one:

https://leunumismatik.com/en/lot/46/6871

and a few more like it. Actually, a year or so ago I bought some that must be from the same group, also repatinated (although mine may be a bit more... orangey). After it became apparent that they were repatinated, I was disappointed and put them away. However, I'd like to enjoy them, lol. They are amazing coins. It bothers me that they are repatinated, but perhaps it shouldn't?  Clearly many people are OK with it. It was also pointed out to me that they would look worse, and perhaps with less apparent detail (?) if they were stripped of this applied patina.  And of course they are genuine coins, repatination or not. Anyway I'm curious about your thoughts. I know it's not ideal, but....? Thanks.

Edited December 13, 2023 by mashumio

[CPK]

It's an interesting question. In general I don't mind a coin being re-patinated, as long as it is subdued, tasteful, and looks natural. I'm not much of a fan of the 'desert' patina in general, and I'm concerned that it is sometimes used to hide evidence of tooling. I also dislike extreme artificial 'rainbow' toning, which can quickly become garish.

 

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

While it can make the devices stand out, I don't think it's such a great practice. There are a couple of dealers with the reputation of inducing repatination (I won't point out names). However in some cases the sand patinas actually are part of a naturally occurring process. For example, I saw a pick pile of coins in 1980 at a coin store (mostly Constantinian bronzes going for $5 a pop), most of which had presumably authentic sand patinas as I don't think repatination was common in those old days.

If you are talking painted or induced glossy patinas I consider this almost worse than tooling.

Edited December 13, 2023 by Ancient Coin Hunter

[Steppenfool]

There are enough coins available that it's no great loss to not engage with coins that are altered in any way, including repatination.

[ela126]

As an amatuer (maybe journeyman) coin cleaner, i've been focusing on "rescuing" coins recently. If a coin has a very significant amount of corrosion, or already has meaningful patina damage, i have been repatinating coins, with about a 50% pleasurable success rate. I think giving these coins a chance to be enjoyed again is worthwhile, as long as it is opennly disclosed.

My opinion is that artifical sand patina should never applied. This is done to mask defects half the time and unfair to amatuer collectors.

[Heliodromus]

I try to avoid them where there's any choice. I'd rather wait for a coin with natural patina than buy one with, bur rarity factors into that too, just as one might be less fussy about condition of a rarity where there's no luxury to pick and choose among multiple specimens.

I'd strongly prefer to have a coin in natural partially cleaned condition (e.g. bronze with greenies) than one that's been stripped and repatinated, even if that gives it a more uniform look.

Personally I particularly don't like fake sand patina since a) you don't know what it's hiding, and b) it just seems worse - covering up the real coin with something fake. One of most notorious appliers of fake sand patina has been seen using it essentially as paint - to make a coin appear to have much more detail than it really has.

 

[John Conduitt]

I try not to buy coins with applied patina. Repatinated is fine if it just means cleaned and then left somewhere it can happen ‘naturally’ (at least the same chemical process). Ancient coins sometimes need a lot of cleaning, so it’s inevitable some will get rather stripped and need to recolour.

But if I hear a dealer applies patina to coins without declaring it clearly and properly then I won’t ever buy anything from them. They are dishonest and it devalues the coins. If it didn’t they wouldn’t have to pretend it’s natural. It’s fraud, in fact. I try not to buy from fraudsters as a general rule.

Because of such people I now don’t find desert patina attractive. I just think - is it fake? Luckily in the UK we have no deserts so it’s easy to avoid them.

Edited December 13, 2023 by John Conduitt

[robinjojo]

That lot offered by Leu is a group of bronzes with what appears to be "desert" patina on all of them.  I wonder if the repatination applies to that, the higher darker details or both? 

My experience with creating a patina on a bronze coin usually means the application of a chemical, such as liver of sulfur, diluted with distilled water and heated. That process will darken the coin to a degree that is determined by the composition of the alloy.  The application of a desert-like patina to an ancient bronze coin is another matter, and it is a step too far, in my opinion, bordering on deception.

[panzerman]

I would/ however with gold they retain their brilliant lustre. I am more worried about other details like "cleaned" "polished"

"tooled" unless that was clipping back in day.