This Might Seem Like The Oddest Question.

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Author	Replies: 4 / Views: 796
coffeegod Valued Member United States 236 Posts	Posted 02/05/2008 9:27 pm You know when you look at a decent coin face on; when you slightly tilt it and so forth, the sheen sort of spirals around the coin like the underside of a CD....... What if you have two of those swirls on one coin exactly opposite of eachother. Normal/Not normal? Sounds like a fairly odd question, but hey........... I'm still learning anyway. Kinda hard to Google that question. Eric Report this Post to the Staff

biokemist6 Bedrock of the Community United States 12437 Posts	Posted 02/05/2008 11:31 pm That is what is called "luster". It is created by light reflecting on microscopic metal flow lines formed when the coin was struck. Luster is an indicator of original surfaces and a polished coin will lose that characteristic. Report this Post to the Staff
halfabustisbetter Pillar of the Community United States 1984 Posts	Posted 02/06/2008 04:57 am And when luster seems to be spinning in the light, it is called cartwheeling, or the "cartwheel effect." If you Google the term you'll get better info. Good question, actually. Report this Post to the Staff
coppercoins Pillar of the Community United States 7629 Posts	Posted 02/06/2008 09:59 am Carefully buffed (monkeyed with) coins will have a cartwheel that's "Too perfect"...so watch for that. Real luster never has a perfect band that's 180 degrees straight on. This is because of the slight changes in stress points from one area of the coin to another. The flow lines don't go STRAIGHT toward the rim, thus the luster bands will have some curve and some angle differences as they bounce around the coin. Buffed luster is usually done with a mechanical wheel. It "recreates" flow lines that were lost due to wear or cleaning. Given that the wheel spins straight across the surface, the luster it gives has an unnatural look. Report this Post to the Staff
jcook54 Pillar of the Community United States 533 Posts	Posted 02/06/2008 11:13 am I think that is a perfectly normal question. There are a lot of terms that get used and if you don't know what they are the best way to find out is to ask it at this forum. Report this Post to the Staff
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