1909 vdb ddo ?

Nobody (as far as I know) "cleans" coins when they are graded. Maybe you are referring to the NGC conservation service, which is different. The conservation service does its best to remove aspects of the coin which were NOT PRESENT when it was struck, such as verdigris or other environmental damage. Again, this is not altering the ORIGINAL state of the coin, because it is removing something that developed after it was struck in an effort to conserve the coin.

 

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so they are cleaning a dirty coin

 

The technical term is "conserving", because they are using a method or chemicals that generally only remove the verdigris of the coin and leave the original surfaces untouched...that is different than cleaning off a drink stain by dipping a coin in soapy water.

 

Semantics Simon, you walked right into it.

 

There is a distinct difference between conserving a coin by removing verdigris and leaving the original surfaces untouched, and cleaning a soda stain off by dipping the coin in soapy water and altering the original surfaces in the process.

 

Semantics.

 

Explain why you think it's semantics? It clearly results in two different outcomes in the originality of a coin. Apparently it's not semantics to a TPG. Clean a coin with dishwasher soap, and they will gladly give you a DETAILS slab. Conserve the coin by removing verdigris with the appropriate chemicals and leave the original surfaces untouched, and it will more than likely not get a DETAILS grade.

 

What you are grasping for is the difference between cleaned and harshly cleaned. And even then you want to sit in judgement upon which is which.

Sent from my perch on the throne, I started cleaning a coin yesterday and it is almost ready

 

I wouldn't necessarily differentiate the two by adding the word "harshly" before "cleaned". I would say that a more accurate difference would be "properly cleaned" and "improperly cleaned". If you "properly clean" a coin, only the additional stuff on the coin (such as verdigris, epoxy or what have you" is removed and the original surfaces remain untampered. Improperly cleaning a coin may remove the epoxy, but will also damage the coin. Maybe the two words to describe the types of "cleaning" sound similar, but they obviously have very different effects on the coin.

 

<--- reaches hand under stall divider ... 'out of paper, got an extra roll?'

 

now I know it all gone to the dogs, I would never paid the same price for a good untouched coin, compared to a clean coin, period, you can say what you want, cleaned is cleaned, when you clean a coin, you've altered the surface, no matter how you slice it