When a coin is suspect of having been "whizzed" or you see it noted on a graded slab but has MS details wouldn't we find that the mint luster and/or cartwheel effect has been removed. My understanding is that when a coin is "whizzed" it means that somebody has tried to make the appearance better by using some kind of buffing device. Something like a dremmel with a soft padded application on the end. I ask this because I got a couple coins back from a grading company that seem to have the need to use that buzzword but my coins still look every bit as good as MS coins with the cartwheel effect intact. I tried to define "whizzed" and for those who don't know what cartwheel effect is, I believe it is best seen on MS coins under a light source when the coin is tilted back and forth. Two rays 180 degrees opposite each other will turn and rotate on the surface of the coin as it is tilted. It is not easy to photograph but here's a video that shows it well.
I know what my vote is but won't vote. Thanks for reading, your thoughts and opinions. And your knowledgeable vote!
It's possible for a very lightly whizzed coin to show some luster, but most them don't. Whizzing involves a solution and a wine brush that puts a fake shine on a coin that turned AU coins into BU coins in the 1970s. I don't own any whizzed coins. I only have a couple of pictures I took down from the Internet. This one is a better example of a whizzed coin.
This is a good opportunity to link to this excellent thread on whizzing. Whizzing obliterates Mint luster, but if you arrange the new wire-brush scratches so that they go from the center to the rim (that is, they're radial), you'll still get a cartwheel effect.
Just my two cents with nothing to do with whizzed coins. I have a Canada cent with a rainbow cartwheel effect on both sides as your video shows. Didn’t know how to explain the effect to sell and was glad you shared it. TKS
Original cartwheel effect can not be duplicated. It either is or is not. Mimicking effect is what you are describing. Take the coin and compare to the exact same coin with original cartwheel effect, say a raw uncirculated appearance piece with what a person believes is a cartwheel, and compare it to a CAC graded MS 66/67. Once you do, you will always be able to detect baloney in regards to a cartwheel.
Charley, I’ll try adding pictures later. The cent I have, like the one shown in the video, sparkles as the coin is rotated. Maybe the reds and greens are toning? Sorry for using this post. It wasn’t my intention. I’ll try posting it separately soon..
I'm probably wrong, but my idea of whizzing (at least in part) was to mimic a cartwheel effect on coins with little to no wear and flat, uninspiring fields.
@-jeffB described perfectly what was spinning around in my brain pan then @charley added the perfect counterpoint….. I collected coins a long time before I had the time to study them. Up until 10-15 years ago I could have easily been duped by a whizzed piece. A whizzed coin when done carefully is an eye popper, but as @charley said, once cartwheel is gone, it is gone. And recognizing the affects that age, cleaning and circulation has on luster is a continuing study for a coin collector.
I will be interested in your photos, with the caveat that I would much prefer viewing in hand. However, also considering the coin you are referring to, it has been enhanced and most likely the affect of same. A simple example, would be what older collectors (50s/60s) will remember, is rubbing your nose and oiling the cent. Another example from the same time frame was using mineral oil and "curing" it. Some old time coin doctors would color the mineral oil and some would thin out paraffin. When dipped, though...oops...somebody was trying to boink somebody else.
The cartwheel effect is caused by light reflecting differently as the coin is tilted at different angles,,,,,,IF the reflecting area is raised high enough, Below are my photo of a Morgan on your left and a Peace Dollar on the right. Both were taken at same magnification 100X. The Morgan has higher peaks and deeper valleys so light is reflected differently thus the cartwheel. The peace is almost flat, so different reflections angles will be of slight difference and thus will not produce much of a cartwheel effect if any. Normal pocket wear or surface corrosion will quickly reduce the height and thus no cartwheel. Whizzing produces mountains , but usually more random heights and so there is no cartwheel, more just "shiney". Below is a 400X of the Morgan to show the ridges of a "never rubbed" Thus the light reflection will be more like a searchlight (cartwheel). This same idea also shows for the "colored flashes" toning from reactive chemicals as different . Chemically induced toning tends to produce more of a flat color and little to no flashing. IMO, Jim
thanks. Some people dislike it when you kinda hijack their post. Question, can I upload short videos here?
Not directly. Click on the "filmstrip" icon: You'll see this popup: I upload videos to YouTube on the rare occasions that I post them here. (I'm a little creeped out that Liveleak is a choice.)
