1880 Morgan Dollar

Pardon my newbie-ness... I know that cleaning coins is bad, but can someone explain why this devalues them so much? If I have a grimy old coin, is there any acceptable means to clean it without "cleaning" it and taking away all the value?

I'm sure there's another thread on this topic somewhere and a link to something like that would help me a lot.

AU50

to CCF!

This is what my friend and I are trying to understand (pardon our ignorance). Why is a grimy coin, in layman's terms, more valuable than a nice shiny coin? We understand the coin collecting hobby itself puts value on coins as they naturally age. Who/what organization determined this? Is this a world-wide accepted concept? Specifically, why does removing dirt and grime some otherwise desirable coins back to a value near melt?

Thanks in advance for some education.

I'm going to say this again.




Original surfaces. As it is, as it has lived it's life, exactly as it got to you, the new owner. Do not undo what came before, whatever it is, unless what you propose to undo will damage the coin to greater extent if not removed. Far better to pass on a coin whose surfaces you don't like; there will always be another.

Since it is a common date the drop is not going to be that much, maybe 5 or 6 bucks. If this was a scarce date it could be as much as a 50% drop in value.

OK another newbie jumping in...
I gave AU-55 also only because it looked like there might
be some slight wear on lower leg of the "M" and the star below it on the obverse....and I freely acknowledge I have no expertise/experience in grading coins...what is the "tell" on the cleaning?
Thanks

Yes, mechanical methods of cleaning will leave behind an abundance of scratches and chemical methods with strip off the original patina of a coin.

If you have ever watched Antiques Roadshow on PBS, you have probably seen some once-very valuable furniture greatly devalued by a previous owner stripping and refinishing it. That original dark patina of the wood takes many decades to develop and it is a very desirous quality that is prized by antiques collectors.

The same concept applies to coins- originality rules above all. Once a coin is cleaned, there is no going back and removing signs of the cleaning is an almost impossible task. Given time, a coin can retone, i.e. develop a new patina, but the scratches will remain and the repatination will not look the same as the original patina due to changes is the reactivity of the coinage metal(freshly cleaned metal is more chemically reactive than metal with some degree of oxidation). Cleaning scratches can also be removed but only by another process that also devalues the coin. One method collectors sometimes use is turning a cleaned coin into a pocket piece. The cleaned coin is literally carried around in your pocket along with other change for a period of months or even years. However, this process removes the cleaning scratches by further wearing the coin down. The coin will then look more natural but it will also be 1-2 grades lower.

I do have a question about the 1880 Morgan pictured. Is it just the image quality or do I see coppery color on the rim in the lower right corners?