Which is worth less: holed or cleaned?

In which instance is a coin worth less? One with a hole or one that has been cleaned?

I figure both of them reduce the coin to scrap value.

Reason: I've got a 1865 2 cent piece that is in GREAT condition! Except for the hole...
(I also had this 1864 that looked nearly prooflike... with a massive hole of course)
And then I've got a 1865 2 cent piece in slightly worse condition, but has been cleaned...

Which one to keep and which one is destined for the scrap barrel?

(I bought each of these for like 3.75 so I'm not crying too much)

 

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I'm just a novice, but I'm gonna guess that the experts will say that, technically, they are worth the same: melt.

However, if one has more eye appeal than the other, market value will be slightly higher.

Personally, if the hole is small, neat, and not right in the middle of the coin, I don't mind so much (for common dates). Ditto for cleaning. But most purists here will probably disagree with me on this last point.

 

Holed is almost always considered a more severe defect than cleaned. It would have to be one horrid clean job to make it worst value wise than a hole.

 

Thanks! Obviously neither of those are racking in the big bucks, but this is good to know for future reference.

 

I would base my decision on how big the hole is and where it is. I would also base my decision on how harshly the coins are cleaned. Coin dealers mostly pay less for holed coins. Polished coins also ruin value more than just a dipped coin.

 

No doubt. All of this runs the gamut. Also, bent coins are in the mix as well, usually between cleaning and holed in severity. I can show you a coin with any of the three worth more or less than the other two in any combination, its just "on average", a cleaned coin is worth more than a bent one which is worth more than a holed one. Exceptions abound, but that is the generality IMHO.

 

What's really sad is when you see an 1889CC Morgan that WOULD be worth thousands, except some idiot polished it all nice and shiny. hurts to think about it

 

I had one worst. In the early 90's a dealer showed me a high relief 1907 St Gaudens a man, just half an hour before bringing it into his shop to sell, took a dremel metal brush to in order to "make it shiny". About made me cry.

 

If it was me I woulda used the dremel brush on the dealer himself! Almost a numismatic crime

 

I got a good story. A coin dealer I once did business with took a spoon to a 1909 $5 Indian, beat down the "D" mint mark as I watched and laughed hysterically. Just for the record, the dealers name was Bill Himmelwright at PQ coins based in MPLS MN.

 

Holed is a LOT worse than cleaned. To the novice person, they might not know something is wrong with a cleaned coin. Every novice will know there is something wrong with the hole.

 

I got one more. I once bought an 1861 seated quarter back in 1989 that was AU58 details, but very dark. I took it to work the next day and showed it to a fellow employee who then sand blasted it. I did not appreciate it, so I sold it about 1 week later.

 

Can't fault the man's concern. Oh wait - yes you can

 

How about both? I once had a $3 gold that had been polished and holed to make a pendant.

 

Must have been a beautiful pendant

 

Holed is more damage than cleaned. It's missing a part of the coin.

 

Or maybe on the guy who actually did the deed.

 

I have had some success straightening bent coins.
One was a Mercury dime I put between two pieces of wood and hit with a hammer.
Another was a copper India coin.
Before I discovered I can do this I had a common date $5 Liberty
that was bent but it was in nice MS condition. I traded it for a NGC AU-58 1914 2 1/2 Indian.
I wish I would have tried straightening that $5 coin.

 

Just a note from someone who loves medals. Many medals were made to be worn so it has a hole naturally. So in my viewpoint, cleaning is worst. Also given the limited number of specific medals, cleaning would not totally devalue the medal.

 

I would say cleaning a coin is less of a sin than holing a coin.