This Roman coin cost $10. It’s worth MUCH more

[@kevinhouse7143]

Wow I did not think all of that was still underneath the dirt and that anyone could salvage it to that degree. Great job and thanks for sharing the process.

[@Poohze01]

I can really understand why it's such a rewarding hobby! An ancient treasure, a link to the past, slowly uncovered from the dirt. Archaeology in miniature!

[@FrankyBabes]

Your video about cleaning roman coins introduced me to the whole hobby. How quickly I went from "wow, you can own these ancient artifacts!?" to "oh, another fallen horseman"

[@alopam]

There are indeed lots of fallen horsemen around. Where I live, you stand a decent chance of finding one by the side of the road. But there's more to it - there are actually "Fallen Horseman" collectors out there, aiming to get as many of them as possible. They were minted at a time of many mints and officinae, so there;s a great variety of them and some rarer variety can fetch a decent price - for what would otherwise be a worthless ancient... Also, as a funny and interesting fact, there's an ancient city/ruin in my area which was at it's height towards the end of the empire. Archaeologists found scores of cast imitations, mostly lead, of such fallen horseman type. By that time, the empire was falling apart and since this was a trading hub, they needed coins. In the absence of officially minted coin, they resorted to minting copy tokens themselves. So, for them, there were literally too few fallen horsemen :)

[@KozmicKarmaKoala]

@@alopam Fascinating account. Thank you !

[@jamietie]

It is stunning to see such an old coin cleaned and look less worn than a 50 or 100 year old silver dollar

[@christopherevans2445]

As a Roman coin collector, thank you for this video. To be able to touch classical coin's from history has so many emotions at times. Depending on the piece and your interest. Always enjoy the videos

[@KSASTAMPS]

FYI: from Roman Coins & Their Values, Volume 2, David Sear (2000): this appears to be Sear #3219 Brass Dupondius (page 113), and it is listed as Very Fine $200 and Extra Fine $600. This appears to me to be quite a nice example, so would probably go towards the higher end of the price quote. Struck in Rome in A.D. 116. From comments below about cleaning: the ultrasound is probably a very bad idea. Every ancient is being "held" together largely by the patina, which is a layer of oxidation which actually "seals" and protects the body of the coin from further degradation. The patina is a mix of metal and mineral (nature wants to decompose your metal back to a mineral state). As such I think the ultrasound will likely destroy the patina in short order. Also, there's a chance it will disintegrate the coin totally depending upon the integrity of the underlying metal. What a beautiful coin you ended up with here.

[@KozmicKarmaKoala]

Excellent...I call them "Numismatic fossils" , the elements separating and returning to the Earth, TERRA. Their patinas, indicative of the soils and elements from which they were minted.

[@dougmartin7129]

Of all the billions of people that have passed and still living since the stamping of this coin you are the one honored to reveal its beauty. What will this coins future path hold? Will it end up on another planet ? Will it be lost in time again?

[@hatednyc]

This comment reads much like something I would’ve thought to myself.

[@kiely4561]

Incredibly detailed and well struck portrait of Trajan beautifully restored

[@KerryLiv]

Monumental video! Selling my coin collection (including ancient roman) when I was a homeless teenager was a sinking feeling. Perhaps collecting again I will regain youthful numismatic excitement I had at the time. Thank you for TIME, the most valuable currency

[@T_Mo271]

Loved seeing the details emerge.

[@hamiljohn]

Really, really fascinating. I love your episodes on coins, being a collector myself. Not Roman, but US and Canadian

[@truthinesssss]

I understand your joy in uncovering and touching historical artifacts. Well done.

[@darrinb1972]

Well done! ... I totally get being in the zone while cleaning the coin and how pleasurable that can be.

[@mikemorgan4432]

Fantastic coin, your final video look at it was wonderful!

[@markreeves3903]

Thank you that was enormously enjoyable. I collected Roman coins until the age of 15. I think I’m going to start again. I am now well over 60!

[@unclvinny]

I love these coin videos. Could you light the coin more strongly, or increase the contrast so we can see the details? They always look much muddier than I guess they do in real life.

[@xa9590]

That’s stunning. It’s an awesome feeling to behold artifacts of such age and history.

[@nirdale]

You did an amazing job! Fantastic coin.

[@jaredfry]

It's wild that you knew the potential of the coin from the beginning

[@gabeg2434]

This coin was minted 19 centuries ago. That is truly incredible. Congratulations for your diligence and thanks for sharing.

[@Dionysus999]

Thay emerald color is beautiful such a magical process

[@TheDuc069]

As always just fascinating and thank you for sharing. I loved watching the slow change, very calming. Having history in your hands, I would worry about scratching the coin, but you make it look easy. It would be nice to know why the other processes destroy the patina, maybe I hope in another coin video??? 😃

[@Susan_HunTer]

Awesome, good eye and nice work, thanks for share this your esperienze, like from Italy

[@asgerms]

Amazing. I wonder how "perfectly round" these coins were when new.

[@markp44288]

Really nice Trajan! Great to see so much of the legends, and the portrait is great. I am excited for you!!! None of my bronzes of him are anywhere near that nice (I do have an amazing denarius though!)

[@dukert27]

I don’t know much at all about ancient coins but this coin is beautiful, well done.

[@MiciusPorcius]

Censored. Too hot for KZbin. It is a beautiful coin 👍

[@UkuleleBobbyKemp]

Wow! That's amazing work young man!!... I love how you've revealed the detail of hair, seen under the crown!... Fantastic... 🙏🏻 👏👏

[@yorkshirepudding9860]

Wow, it really is beautiful. All the details in his hair.

[@shawna620]

A beautiful coin! What luck to get it in your haul--

[@anightatrosies]

That is an absolutely gorgeous coin. Your first video on cleaning ancient coins inspired me to do so as well, it's honestly an art form. What a wonderful hobby.

[@mm-yt8sf]

so at the time it was commonly used as currency how much would that coin have been worth? a loaf of bread? a nice meal? or only used as part of a large purchase like property? is the only way for these things to survive to the present is to be lost completely until discovered well past any chance of it being used as money?

[@nathanielscreativecollecti6392]

Dupondius could get you a decent meal. It is a small purchase, 1/8 of a denarius which is a day's wages for a skilled worker or soldier.

[@nathanielscreativecollecti6392]

The Romans had a bad habit of melting down their old coins. Yes, getting lost and found is the best thing that could happen to a coin.

[@markp44288]

If you view a denarius as a day's wages, then the coin in the video might be like $10 USD today, but if you consider a denarius would get you a decent bottle of wine maybe that coin is more like $2.50. Trying to compare modern dollars to ancient denominations depends on what you compare it to, because wages and commodity prices change significantly over time.

[@dave_lawrence]

What a journey! I totally understand both your connection with the coin given the time you worked on it and also the peaceful feeling it gave you when spending hours working over the surface. At the beginning you mentioned the tooth pick, the metal pick and the scalpel. The video showed the scalpel with the coin fron day 2 or 3, was that the tool you use for the majority of the time? And did you use a large fixed lens to help see what you were doing? Superb video, I absolutely loved it. Thank you.

[@Z__K217]

Thanks for sharing this.

[@TroyArmstrong]

took long time to clean but it turned out to be beautiful good job

[@bentationfunkiloglio]

Truly magnificent piece of ancient metalworking and art. Were these coins stamped or cast (or other)?

[@toldinstonefootnotes]

Ancient coins were almost always struck, not cast

[@stevehammel2939]

Thats a really sweet dupondius, congratulations. I've had thousands of poor quality coins that were never worth cleaning up, they must have been thrown down the latrine.

[@i-a-g-r-e-e-----f-----jo--b]

Nice coin and video, thanks!

[@flowermeerkat6827]

Beautiful coin.

[@peteregan3862]

Would it help to start with distilled water in a Jeweller's ultrasonic bath?? Patina is well adhered so should not come off with dirt particles.

[@toldinstonefootnotes]

I've heard that you can damage the patina that way.

[@peteregan3862]

@@toldinstonefootnotes worth experimenting on your cheaper coins. I note the patina survived your metal tools. I expect it might only remove loser dirt. Ultrasonic is just rubbing water molecules against the object.

[@jmsparger4339]

First time seeing yourr channel. I'm totally fascinated.. Any chance of getting footage interspersed of the actual cleaning? Even if at high speed? That would hook me.😁

[@naciremasti]

Do any ancient coins have the year they were minted on them? When did that become a thing?

[@rcrawford42]

Some Roman coins were commemorative, so can be dated pretty close. Since this coin mentioned how many times Trajan had been consul, that gives a small range of years. Other cultures likely did things differently, though.

[@monedaslimpias]

Excelent cleaned

[@MrDowntemp0]

Perhaps that coin cleaning could be sped up some but still safely with air pressure? Still methodical, just a better tool?

[@abrown6539]

Wow. I know nothing about this stuff, but even I can tell - nice job!

[@JoshuaNicoll]

I'd probably use a weak ultra sonic cleaner first to just loosen the dirt, like how you soaked it in distilled water, but yes, it can be very relaxing to clean a coin that way, and you keep the patina, which is nice. Not every coin needs to be shiny and clean, it's nice to do if you get a really nice rare one, so you can see the details and catelog and all that, but that coin seems better with the pattina.

[@flamencoprof]

Regarding your thoughts on the time spent, I can empathise, though in a different field. I have a 10" 33 1/3 LP record from my parent"s day. it was pretty scratchy and also distorted from needle wear. I recorded it digitally and then using editing software literally cleaned up the waveform by hand. One 12-minute side took 42 days to do at 72 sessions of about an hour or two to clean up 10 seconds of sound per session. It came out pretty clean, and so did I, as I was distracting myself from giving up alcohol and nicotine at the time 🙂

[@jonathanjochem7289]

When you say Day One, Two, Three... are you scraping day and night day after day or just a few minutes every day?

[@toldinstonefootnotes]

No, just 15 or 20 minutes a day

[@williambranch4283]

Great job!

[@globalns]

The patina is beautiful. Are there non destructive cleaning methods, such as ultrasonic or low abrasive tumbling?

[@nathanielscreativecollecti6392]

Ultrasonic can be horrible to a coin shattering the whole patina, sometimes wrapping it in cloth can help with this. Abrasive tumbling is a no go. Bronze coins are best cleaned with patience and a scalpel. Silver coins can sometimes be aided with some solvents but it requires skilled application.

[@jenniferhart6136]

Beautiful!

[@Nox-qo1ws]

How much does a coin like this cost? if you were to sell it..

[@iskato914six]

I started a new hobby thanks to you. watching your show and being introduced to Kevin at NRC. question for you is this, what magnifying lamp do you use? I bought one, but its too weak in my opinion. maybe 2X magnification. I'm reading that a 10X magnification is best. thoughts? Thanks!

[@deannekliene2673]

I learned the hard way....scratched a coin too hard then found out it was an electrum....😢 Cant tell much else😢

[@1Rab]

Coins make the history feel very real. At times it can all feel like a fantasy novel

[@oldplucker1]

Amazing vid👍. Is there a product that gives cleaned coins that ‘Wet’ look? And protects and lasts for many decades?

[@toldinstonefootnotes]

Some people use Renaissance wax, but I've always preferred to leave the coins in their natural state.

[@augcaes]

It’d be great if you can do a video addressing the dreaded bronze disease

[@robertchampeau6867]

Have you tried qn ultrasonic cleaner?

[@tannerstull6490]

What’s the coins value after that ?

[@SubTroppo]

I am reminded of the money one can spend cleaning (and flattening) long-playing micro-groove records. There are instructional videos on how to repair jumps or skips of the stylus in the groove. There are those who can decipher the "hieroglyphs" in the area in the "dead wax' area of a disc where the music finishes. If you say vinyl, I can cope, but if the plural "vinyls" is used ...well, I almost "peter des plombs' as the French say. ps I still prefer the CD experience. (ref. "Tracking Angle etc on YT)

[@Ninja-Alinja]

About the cleaning. Would ultrasound devices work at some point of the process? Also, have you tried fiber-glass pens (brushes, really)? As an electronic guy who uses those for cleaning PCB pads, it feels like a natural go-to.

[@toldinstonefootnotes]

I've never used ultrasonic tools, since I've heard that they can damage the patina.

[@KSASTAMPS]

Ultrasound is a bad idea because it can literally tear apart the body of the coin. Every patina is the edge where the oxidation if turning the metal back into mineral. At the least the ultrasound will disintegrate the patina to the bare metal, and on ancients the patina is the desirable part of the coin.

[@charleshash4919]

Brush damage can dramatically reduce the value of (ancient) coins, but is often seen on coins cleaned by people in a hurry and trying to get a better economic return on their time investment in cleaning ancient coins. If you are trying to uncover a nice coin for your collection, it's generally not recommended to use a brush.

[@0529mpb]

The main tools people use are wooden Bar-B-Que skewers.

[@nathanimes4041]

I wonder if a carefully calibrated laser cleaner would work without causing damage to the metal underneath?

[@charliesybert2683]

Could i use a ultra sonic cleaner?

[@Miguel-x2l]

Going to take me maybey 10 years to clean all my coins

[@yallahyallah4220]

beautiful hobby.

[@SweetBabyRey]

No disrespect to you but I normally don't trust any sponsor that a KZbin content creator promotes. In my opinion a majority of them end up being scams but this is just the thing that I've always said I wanted and I'm going to take a chance on the Noble Roman coins. I like history (like everyone here loll) and this is how I can end up closer. I was just at the Metropolitan Museum of art in Manhattan and I was so jealous at all the coins and little trinkets. So this is my chance

[@anthonyiocca5683]

Cleaning and enhancing image lines looks best…

[@chipwalter4490]

I wonder what they bought with that coin!?

[@gregstephens2339]

Would ultrasonic cleaning speed this up?

[@toldinstonefootnotes]

From what I've heard, that usually destroys the coin's patina

[@420.........]

@@toldinstonefootnotes you destroyed the coin, leave the hobby we all hate you

[@dustin..77]

Do these coins maintain their condition more so because of the make and material of the coins or rather the environmental conditions of the place the coin was lost? Can modern coins last this long if they were in the same environmental conditions?

[@KSASTAMPS]

The patina is what preserves the coin so well. The patina is the edge of oxidation which serves to "seal" a strong protective coat to the inner core of the coin.

[@ellerose9164]

I must ask because now I'm curious: how much *is* it worth?

[@KSASTAMPS]

This coin appears to me to be Sear #3219 (Roman Coins, David R Sear, 2000), page 113. Struck in Rome A.D. 116. Sear has it at $200 Very Fine and $600 Extra Fine. This is a pretty nice example and off-hand would probably be closer to the higher range. Not bad for $10, but as you can see--lot's of time invested to do it right.

[@nathanielscreativecollecti6392]

Do you have a discord? It would be fun to share coins that we find in cleaning lots from Noble Roman Coins.

[@YadraVoat]

Why Discord? Isn't that a platform rather than a federated protocol? (In other words: Is it possible to run your own server?)

[@piface3016]

@@YadraVoat It's a platform, not a protocol, but it's what most internet people use to organize nowadays. A discord server is kinda like a subreddit.

[@nathanielscreativecollecti6392]

@@YadraVoat It would be fun to have a discord specifically for Noble Roman Coins, and other uncleaned places.

[@toldinstonefootnotes]

Unfortunately I don't have a discord, but please feel free to email photos of any treasures you've found to my toldinstone address!

[@Ecologist13]

Де купити такі монети ? За 10$

[@apollion888]

I appreciate that you do not wish to sell it but your title implies a reveal of the actual price, does it not?

[@nesa1126]

Have you tried doing that using electric toothpick?

[@rickfox4068]

I would never use a scalpel for cleaning a coin.. Too easy to damage it.

[@julianhermanubis6800]

I am sure your sponsor is on the level, but, with Roman coins and artifacts, there are a large number of counterfeits on the market, even of seemingly common items. This was a cottage industry in the Balkans and parts of the Middle East for years. There were even a few famous counterfeits, like "Slavey" variety ones in Bulgaria, where Slavey Petrox and many imitators produced very high quality imitation silver coins that fooled many collectors. Personally, I have seen fakes of common 4th century bronzes from the Constantinians and of an antoninianius of Gallienus and of the 4th century Constantinople and Rome coins, none of which you would think anyone would bother to counterfeit but they did. Ebay is flooded with fake terracotta and bronze artifacts that are sold as real. So, really, it's caveat emptor in the market for Roman coins and artifacts, and buyers should pick their sellers carefully.

[@EthanBSide]

In Philadelphia it's worth 50 bucks...

[@jperez7893]

Use an ultrasonic cleaner. Faster

[@Oldman808]

Clickbait. I’m not interested in an advertisement of a coin shop.

[@napoleonfeanor]

Just the sponsor lol

[@420.........]

And he destroyed coins by cleaning them

[@stefthorman8548]

@@420.........

[@viorp5267]

YOU CAN BUY ROMAN COINS!?!?!? What? You can just buy 2000 year old stuff. Just buy it, just like that for 10 pounds. What the actual hell.

[@ii8283]

Whoever did the Sponsorblock segment already when this video is only 5 hours old with under 500 views, you're an absolute legend

[@Susan_HunTer]

Traian dupondius

[@mohammedhaggage6767]

عندي عملة يونانية ترجع اوصولها 500 سنة قبل الميلاد تحتاج إلى التنظيف أرغب في بيعها🤝

[@bomaite1]

Isn't that George Washington?

[@cerberus6654]

Dr. G! You never fail to enchant me. If I may make a suggestion - as one of your FIRST fans - you might gift me that coin for my 65th birthday just past. I know that is exactly the sort of gesture you love to make! And I know that (if you haven't actually noticed) you share the same profile as Trajan - sans barbe. But without the massive taurine neck, needless to say...

[@Stratigic_Cheese_Reserve]

hehehe *Ass of Nero*

[@napoleonfeanor]

Sponsored by noble gold erm roman coins

[@deg6788]

It's trajan 3:21

[@tolik5929]

I found that soaking them in vinegar for 24h works the best . All the crud flakes off in one piece , leaving it shiny as the day it was made .