Cleaned US Coins

1) hairlines- fine, light scratches that are generally in one or two directions, caused by rubbing the coin with something. Sometimes a strong light and a good magnifier are needed to see light hairlines, other times they are obvious to the naked eye. Do not confuse with die polishing/abrading lines- these are imparted by the die itself so they are not incuse like scratches would be. Die polish lines also tend to stop at the edge of devices instead of being on top of them. Also, not to be confused with "friction hairlines" which usually are only on small parts of the coin and tend to be in random directions. This is generally caused by careless handling.

2) lack of luster on AU/MS coins- if a coin with slight or no wear also has no luster, something is wrong. The usual cause for this is overdipping(E-Z-Est, Jeweluster) which gives you a flat, dull, lifeless appearance instead of a bright, flashy coin.

3) Obviously circulated coin being bright white- coins that have spent significant time in circulation should have a patina or tone. Anything that is F/VF and bright white has been cleaned in some manner. The one exception to this is a "pocket piece" coin, i.e. a collectible coin that someone carries in their pocket on a daily basis mixed with all the other stuff in their pocket. This is really a method of hypercirculation and the coin cannot develop a patina if it is in a constant state of wear. The vast majority of bright white circs have not been pocket pieces so that assumption should not be applied to a coin unless you know it was a pocket piece.

4) copper that appears to be pink, orange, or red when obviously circulated- copper coins develop a patina much more rapidly than silver or nickel, turning a mellow dark tan or brown. Once past EF wear, there should not be mint red left on a copper coin. Coins that have been overdipped will be pink but more skillful dipping will result in a red/orange that is closer in appearance to mint red. This can be tricky to discern on AU/MS copper but should be plain on circulated coins.


These are the most common methods of cleaning a coin but obviously there are others. The best way to be able to discern cleaned coins is to look at as many coins as possible and examine known cleaned coins. Experience is the best teacher here. Also, cleaned coins can even fool experts. As an example, SuperDave purchased a 1921 Morgan in a PCGS slab a couple years ago. He had cherrypicked it as a rare VAM but once he cracked out the coin and examined it, he learned that it had been scrubbed and then artificially toned to hide the hairlines. That coin had still made it past the vaunted PCGS grading experts.

Nice link Scott. Didnt know NOT to clean them. I was going to clean a few ASE's, but NOT anymore. How can we find out if they are worth more toned or not?

Very insightful! I suspect as much when I find scratches and bright wite coins with out luster, but you information on the die polishing was extreme;ly interesting. I'll keep a closer eye of the scratches.

I have some old silver coins that are obviously worn, but are bright silver. I assume these have been cleaned. Coins that are heavily worn would not be bright silver; they would most likely be darkened from age and usage. No pictures - I don't have my camera with me.

Just got one off a ebay auction and I'm returning it today. Advertised BU and nothing about being cleaned. The coin's obverse, image of walking liberty, had the brilliance of a 2006 reverse proof AE while the field was a dull almost medium gray color with no mint luster at all. How do you find the courage, or should I say gall, to send out a coin like this? I sincerely hope this gentleman was not one of our own. Come to think of it, fair membership practices and ethics were why I dropped my ANA membership.