1854 $3 Gold Piece

Looks solid for VF-30, maybe a bit higher. I don't see anything that suggests it's not genuine. There are no obvious hairlines to indicate a harsh cleaning but the rather dull surfaces and the dirt residue in the crevices might be evidence of some kind of light cleaning. If it was cleaned it probably isn't severe enough to generate a "problem" grade from a TPG.
Looks like a decent, circulated type coin to me.

VF-30, but looks like a good sized rim bump at 12 O'Clock on reverse. That would be an issue at resale.

VF-25/30

Nothing screams fake.

No dirt in the denticles though.

Does the reverse show some clashed dies though?

Sure looks like clashing to the left of the 3 and both sides of the date

Yes, with all due respect, you're wrong. That type of cleaning is anathema to any respectable numismatist. Even if this one's already been cleaned, "finishing the job" is a great sin.

These are not "our" coins. They belong to history, and since we die we're only temporary caretakers. It is truth that cleaning has been more, and less, in favor among numismatists throughout history, and also true that there are individual cases where some type of conservation is warranted.

But right now - as in the last 100 years or so, and ongoing hopefully forever - originality is prized, and the default is to keep the coin as original as you possibly can even if you acquired it cleaned.

There's a logical, rather than emotional, argument as well. Cleaning strips the surfaces of a coin and allows corrosive processes to get a stronger foothold. Patina protects the coin, even if that patina is dirt. And our job is protection, not ownership. Obviously this isn't as relevant for a noble metal like gold, but it's alloyed with copper and certain nasty processes can sometimes still take hold based on that if the alloy is imperfect.

Please don't clean it.

Thank you, Barry. I "know" you well enough to know that a few words would have sufficed without you taking it wrong, but this was an occasion where I had to be more verbose for the broader audience who read the Forum. Note that - before this post - there were 12 posts and over 190 reads of this thread. That fits the usual pattern - only about 10% of total readers ever participate in a given thread, and at any given time there are far more non-registered people reading this content (and all Forum content) than Members.

All right, I just got the coin in the mail today, so here are some updated pictures:



What originally looked like a ding on the reverse at 12:00 I'm now thinking might actually be Cud, especially since there are additional bumps at 3:00 and 6:00. Of course they may all be dings or evidence of jewelery mounting, but I don't think so.

OK, it just occurred to me to actually look at the rim. The bump at 12:00 on the reverse is most likely a ding after all, since the rim is a bit flattened there as well.

I'm going to the Bay State Coin Show tomorrow where ANACS has a booth set up to submit coins for grading, and I was thinking of bringing this one in for submission. Given the ding on the reverse and the amount of gunk visible in the letters and numbers and nowhere else (likely indicating a past cleaning), however, I'm wondering if this would pretty much be guaranteed to be sent back with a "details" grade and therefore not worth submitting. Of course, even if it gets a "details" grade, it would still be nice to have it authenticated I guess...

What do you guys think?