Three Most Painful Things As A Collector

I'm sure we all have certain things that really push our buttons. There are certain things that a person can do to a coin that really makes me mad, I guess you could call them my "collector pet peeves"

Toning, Cleaning, and Damaging.

AT'ing often occurs on purpose, some people just don't realize that it is close to impossible to replicate the toning made from mint bags. I understand artificially toning a coin of low value just for your pleasure, but I think some people just don't realize how they could potentially destroy the value of their coins. In most cases, the toning is quite obvious, too. Here is an example of a very expensive coin ruined by someone trying to artificially tone an already exceptional coin.



Next, we have cleaning. There's a difference between a short acetone bath to remove gunk and rubbing a coin with (a) a wire brush, (b) some kind of silver-shiner, (c) an abrasive cloth. Most common cause of details grades, I'm sure. I can't imagine how much value has been lost if you combine all the cleaned coins... Millions! Here's an example of a key-date Morgan that, without the cleaning, would be worth a heck of a lot. Of course, this may not have been frowned upon at the time it was done.



Lastly... There's damaging. Normally happening in circulation, it hurts to see a key date or rare coin holed, punched, etc. These people obviously did not realize potential value.



Thought this would be a neat discussion. What are your collector... pet peeves?