1835 $5 Gold Coin—your Opinion On Grade And Value-Thnx

This coin has a different, more abrasive cleaning. Brilliant uncirculated (BU) coins have mint luster which looks like the hazy concentric surface of an LP music record (if you remember what those look like). This coin looks like the original surface of the coin was stripped of its luster. Over time you will get a feel for what that looks like. A BU coin straight from the mint would look like the one below:

That is a great question and it is sometimes tough to tell. But the difference is that wear is slight on an Au coin, and most importantly it does not mar the surface of the coin in a way not consistent with normal wear from handling a coin. Correct identification requires some experience.

I always ask myself: Is the wear on the surface of the coin consistent with what I would expect from slight, normal handling? If yes, AU, if not, cleaned or damaged.

I don't know Sarr, but I know CCC well. They are a large outfit with a really deep inventory of really desirable coins. They have a great reputation, imho. Their good stuff is all slabbed. Their sweet spot is in the $1k to $10k range, but there are no bargains there. You'll pay close to full retail there so many knowledgeable collectors would rather try to get into a discount situation at auction.