Teach me - how to tell if its been cleaned?...

Hi,
I am way new to coin collecting. The folks here have indicated that a number of my coins have been cleaned. I have no idea how to tell. I understand there is a phenomenon called "cartwheeling." I have a number of coins that exhibit this effect and it's easy to tell (I saw it on YouTube). Other than that, I don't know what to look for other than the cartwheeling. Is it as simple as "if you don't see the cartwheel, it's been cleaned?" Thank you! I am looking forward to being taught.

 

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Here's a piece I own that's been cleaned. Notice that near the rim and the lettering is a different color than her portrait and around her bust. Often if a coin's been cleaned you can still see the original surface in protected areas.









This one has also been cleaned. Look specifically at the eagle's wing and breast. You can plainly see cleaning hairlines/scratches.









And this is a great example of harshly cleaned!





I'll share a trickier example in a little while.

 

It takes handling a lot of coins. And I'll be honest... I bought two coins last year and sent them in for slabbing and they came back cleaned and I been collecting for fifty years... It isn't always apparent. And to further confound the issue, cleaning coins was a typical numismatic practice in the 19th century so the coins that were cleaned by our forefathers are generally regarded as "market acceptable".

You are correct to look for cartwheeling. This is created by the movement of metal during the striking process. It is easy to see when you take a newly minted quarter and turn it around out in the sunlight. Cartwheeling tends to disappear when a coin is circulated or harshly cleaned. The best description I have seen is in a book published by one of our members @physics-fan3.14 called The Art And Science of Grading Coins. A necessary read if you stay in the hobby.

Coins can be cleaned correctly (my avatar coin), but for the most part if you can see rubbing marks on the surface viewing thru a small loupe, this would be considered harsh or unacceptable cleaning.

 

The two clues that tell me a coin has been cleaned are: 1) A shiny coin with lots of circulation damage (wear & tear) on it. 2) A shinny coin with low points around raised points dull, while the high points and most of the open surface is shinny clean.

Example below is a screenshot I took of a coin posted on this site:



Notice around places on the coin, such as around "IN GOD WE TRUST", the area around the wording is dark. That's my example of #2 reference above. When you see a coin with such as this one, it's been cleaned.

 

Harshly cleaned with a wire wheel. Ouch!

 

Sometimes cleaned coins will tone strange colors. If you ever see a circulated (VF or lower) coin with crazy toning, beware!









If you ever start buying coins be careful buying from a person with not so great pictures like this:





Wow! What a nice uncirculated coin you might think. But is it?













Some of the trickiest cleaned coins are the ones you need to have the right lighting angle to see it.







I hope this was some what helpful to you.

 

All the given answers were great to include the pictures from a great question to begin with. I think this will help more people than realized.

 

There are a number of ways but I’ll only mention a few.
1) shiny surfaces with dirt in corners and along the edges of designs.
2) scratches in the fields
3) lack of Luster
4) The surface of the coin shows wear but the price does not

 

I don't have any advice to add except to get a 10x loupe - you should be able to see anything under 10x magnification, if it's not evident to the naked eye.

I do have two fun examples of cleaned coins. One easy to see that it was very harshly cleaned. One pretty hard to tell (and I still am not convinced).

 

Quite often you will see fine scratches called hairlines which are all running in one direction.

Another fundamental is the ability to distinguish mint luster from a piece that has been shined up.

This 1843 half dollar has been shined up to make it glow. Some beginners might find that attractive, but it's an eyesore for an experienced collector.



This 1853 half dollar as "cartwheel luster." If you swirl this piece under a light, the brightness will turn, unbroken around the piece. This is created when the coin is struck. The flows into the die and creates this effect.



Some collectors don't like the white surfaces because the piece has probably been dipped. I don't mind it too much, but that's were collectors can differ.

Toned coins can be harder to grade, but toning can cover problems.

 

The compare the reverse of the San Diego commemorative half dollar to this piece. The reverse looks "flat" with no cartwheel luster.

 

Wow @johnmilton ….. If that 1853 A&R ever goes to auction, I sure hope you will allow me the first swing at her.

 

I bought that 1853 Arrows and Rays Half Dollar at a Winter FUN show in 2007. I probably paid too much for it. The Arrows and Rays coins had a high mintage, but it's hard to find them in strict Mint State.

Most collectors would like the looks of this better. Both coins are graded MS-64. CAC liked this one.



I own this one years ago. It has been lightly whizzed. It flunked at the grading services.

 

Randy makes an excellent suggestion

I can also point you to two articles that formed the basis for that chapter of my book.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-discussion-about-surfaces-part-1-of-2.256003/
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-discussion-about-surfaces-part-2-of-2.256255/

 

Never saw one of those half dollars with reverse rays. Looked it up. Yep it’s real. Thanks for showing. Says only one year made. I kinda like it

 

You would need it for a type set ? Am I right?

 

He ain’t selling that. He needs it

 

Now I have to look up wizzed. I try to pickup what your putting down. It’s a lot for me

 

Yes, it’s only one I have.

 

“Whizzed” is a procedure coin doctors use to make an AU look like a Mint State piece are charge Unc. money for it. The ANA barred member dealers from selling them at one point. They use a wire brush to moves the metal on the surface of a coin to make it look like mint luster. The difference is subtle, but it’s important. It’s how some investors and collectors lost thousands of dollars on coin purchases, and the sales industry a bad name.