Cleaning Versus Circulation

As with almost every question about collectible coins, the answer is "it depends."

A coin can be uncirculated and still have nicks and scratches due to handling before the coin was intended to go into circulation (for instance if the coin was shipped from the mint to banks in bags).

I think collectors who have been around a long time strongly prefer uncirculated coins over attractive coins that have been cleaned, especially for modern issues.
I think the idea is that a cleaned coin is no longer in its "natural" state; it's been tampered with.

That said, for some older types, many of the higher grade coins have been cleaned at some time in the past, and it becomes very difficult to find uncleaned examples, so a collector may settle for such a coin.

So many posts about cleaning coins. Just remember this is a hobby and you can do as you want.