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 Replies: 15 / Views: 3,166 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5208 Posts |
If I am on the hunt for an MS grade coin that I REALLY REALLY want I buy it slabbed. Why? Because I am bad at determining if a coin has been "improperly cleaned" Is there a correct way to "clean" a coin? I'm guessing if NCS (now plain old NGC) "cleans" your rusty coin and then throws it into a straight grader slab that is considered "properly cleaned", I mean conserved  While there are many ways to "clean" a coin the most obvious are hairlines / wipe marks on MS coins, white G4 coins that have been dipped, "shiny" low grade co9sn that have been polished, and many more. My problem which compels me to buy slabbed MS coins is "lightly cleaned" coins that may have been dipped but still have eye appeal with no obvious signs of a cleaning. I have seen many VG-VF coins in details grade cleaned slabs that I see no signs of any type of cleaning. Maybe the TPG's got it wrong but why err on the side of caution when grading a $20 coin  Well the reason for this rant is this set on ebay. Besides the overpriced auction is it just me or does every coin in the set look cleaned and or polished or whatever whizzed term you want to apply?   Edited by jack jeckel
05/26/2015 11:46 pm
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7375 Posts |
Yeah, but the 1916 D looks pretty good, not cleaned. I'd like to see the reverse. I'm not saying every one of them looks cleaned, but a lot of them do.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4963 Posts |
I'm not great at telling either, but at least with the obvious ones. Here are two very obviously cleaned coins from my collection. 1. Found in a LWC folder given to me as a kid. No, it's not a VDB. There is an arc running from the T in TRUST to Lincoln's shoulder; it appears as if another cent was on top of it during cleaning. The mark in the upper left obverse field is on the 2x2, not the coin. Lastly, the reverse image is blurry, all wheat lines are clear.   2. This 1819 large cent has it all- hairlines, an unnaturally shiny color, possibly even a coat of varnish or something similar.   |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1566 Posts |
A coin is only "cleaned" if it looks cleaned. Everything else is "conservation".  |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Easy to buy cleaned coins, but very difficult to sell them. Personally, I don't think there is any price too low for a cleaned coin.
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Pillar of the Community
861 Posts |
90+% of all pre-1900 coins have been cleaned, including those in "straight grade" PCGS, ANACS and NGC holders. Even NGC admits it "straight grades" many cleaned coins. They even put "improperly cleaned" on their holders instead of cleaned. The key is to know at what point a coin is "properly cleaned" vs "improperly cleaned".
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Pillar of the Community
United States
940 Posts |
Jack, most of the Mercury dimes in that lot look, to me, like they were cleaned. Quote:
Easy to buy cleaned coins, but very difficult to sell them. Well said, Coinfrog. One question I ask myself before I commit to any coin purchase is; "Would I have trouble selling this later." If the answer is even "maybe," I don't buy it. |
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Valued Member
United States
336 Posts |
@ jack jeckel
I feel your pain in regards to cleaned coins. I have quite a bit of trouble figuring out it myself (I have a hard time with artificial toning too). I bought quite a few cleaned coins without knowing it and sent them into the NGC. They came back with the details grades. I by no means got killed on any of these coins for what I paid for them and grading, but its what has created the motivation for me to learn. I've got some great examples of cleaned coins to take a look at closely and I have examples that are certified as not cleaned from the same line. Hopefully this will be a good start on figuring it out, but it looks like I have a long road of learning about it ahead. I believe learning is the best road to take though.
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CCF Sponsor
United States
702 Posts |
Classic Coins - that's a great way to collect for investment.
As for me, when I'm learning about a new series I buy whatever is cheap and see if it speaks to me. If I keep going back to it, then I worry about quality if I want to think investment.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
675 Posts |
At a glance, almost all of those mercs look cleaned. Interesting that the 1916-D stands out as perhaps being natural.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
606 Posts |
Quote:
Personally, I don't think there is any price too low for a cleaned coin. Coinfrog, I'll buy any cleaned coins you get for face value. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7390 Posts |
Quote:
for face value  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1373 Posts |
Quote:
90+% of all pre-1900 coins have been cleaned, including those in "straight grade" PCGS, ANACS and NGC holders. I think you are probably right, and I wouldn't be surprised that over half of the post 1900 coins are in the same boat also. Personally, I don't really care if a coin has been touched up a little in the past, as long as it hasn't been scratched up too badly while doing so. Of course, I don't ever pay more than the G-VG price for anything I buy, whether the coin is raw or in a holder. For example, and not knowing what it is being asked, the max I would bid for the shown Mercury collection would be around $1,300 - $1,400; and maybe add in another $5 for the album. At least this way, even if I buy cleaned coins, I still shouldn't over pay too much. |
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Moderator
 United States
188770 Posts |
Quote:
Personally, I don't really care if a coin has been touched up a little in the past, as long as it hasn't been scratched up too badly while doing so I agree. Eye appeal matters most to me and in my opinion old cleaning usually does not significantly affect it. |
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Valued Member
United States
336 Posts |
Spent the better part of the evening last night researching cleaned coins. Watched a few decent videos on youtube about it, then turned to reading some articles. After finishing that I moved on to pulling the certified cleaned examples out of my collection to examine along with certified examples that are not cleaned. It was a very enlightening evening. Sure, after one evening, I'm still no expert, but it is a step in the right direction. My plan is to start going through more of my collection trying to identify cleaned coins and coins that are not. In the long run this is going to save me a bit of money :)
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
94367 Posts |
Half - thanks for the offer! But you get my point - would you knowingly buy a cleaned coin, and if so, how low would you offer?
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Replies: 15 / Views: 3,166 |
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Posted 05/27/2015 01:04 am
