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I'm afraid it does happen on a very regular basis and I'm sure they are aware of it. A quick dip before sending a Morgan Dollar to PCGS or NGC happens a lot.
I was always pretty much a "purist" about cleaning coins and still rarely touch any of my own. It's different I'm afraid to dealers seeing thousands of coins.
It's odd that a coworker and I have become fairly adept at it - through practice. Neither of us is crazy about it.
My "best", if you can call it that, was an Isabella quarter. Came in real black and the boss wanted it slabbed. I got the honors.
I worked it slowly and methodically over a few days. Got it to a "natural" grey. The boss wanted me to work it more and I told him no. It was done.
It came back an AU58 with no problems mentioned from ANACS.
Was I proud that I had slipped one by ANACS? No. I was happy that I didn't destroy the coin.
Other coins my coworker and I will just say no period. Has no hope and we won't touch it.
Sounds to me like you were not exactly proud of your accomplishment. I have experimented with success on common date coins. I know it happens more than we'd like to think, like it or not. I guess I would rather have a cleaned coin over a counterfeit any day. I would however, rather not deal with either.
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