Sorry, but I couldn't resist

I know, I know, it's a numismatic sin to clean a coin. But, I found the world's ugliest coins and I couldn't resist. Did I do wrong or did I do right, you decide. I did find a little bit of luster under all that ugliness though, and I think it was worth it. Please tell me what you think. regards.

 

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I understand, as much as I can, that you shouldn't clean a coin, but... sometimes you just can't resist. I'm nobody, so my opinion doesn't mean anything. But, I prefer the cleaned coin. You didn't have a "one of a kind". You didn't use a coarse file, or a power sander. You took a coin with nothing going for it, and made it legible. I'll take it, if no one else wants it, lol. I've got a couple of coins that have been cleaned by someone? I didn't see them before they were cleaned, so I can't compare before and after. But, as for me, you did good.

 

That was a good coin to practice on as there wasn't much going for it.
There are plenty of cases where cleaning a coin is a bad idea but here you were perfectly ok with what you did.

 

I agree. I only clean Metal Detected coins because most of them are nasty.

 

I don’t think it makes much difference either way. For coins that can be helped by dipping, not cleaning them, the purists can’t be pleased. If you leave the coin alone, the purists says, “It’s ugly.” If you dip it, “It’s been cleaned.”

 

This is one of those cases where you say, "what's it going to hurt", I think? I've got a couple of coins that have previously been cleaned, some well done and some not. But, at least 3 of them that I can think of, I'm glad they were cleaned. Because, I could not have afforded them without a "cleaned discount". So, they've been cleaned and "cheapened", but they are still a real coin, and I have an example for my collection.

 

I think what you did was right under the circumstances. It's a lot better looking coin now than it was before.

Bruce

 

True.. if I ever find something worthwhile I will just gently clean it. The rest are definitely cleanable.

Here is a meme I created once for my Instagram Detecting page

 

Luckily the coin was melt value to begin with, but I personally think it looks worse now.
It looks cleaned and has striking black spots everywhere.
At least before it just looked like a dirty used coin. It’s been stripped of its liveliness.

 

I much prefer the cleaned version. Sin or not, ugly is ugly and you have vastly improved the appearance of that dollar.

 

I think you made a good decision, I would have done the same thing. Not all, but a lot purists wouldn't have a coin that looked like that in the first place. I don't think anyone could say it looked better than before what you did.

Not that he abuses it, but I would bet John Milton is one of those very good at dipping a coin.

 

Nope. I'm only good at advising you on whether or not you should dip a coin. For many pieces it can do more harm than good, but it does have its place in the hobby.

 

Conservation ( cough cough ) much better looking now and probably didn't loose much weight in the cleaning process.
People like shiny...you could always get it gold plated

 

White is right! You did good.

 

I would have bet on it.

 

Even pretty girls use a little makeup.

 

To quote Bones McCoy

It's dead, Jim

Either way

 

Love it.