Would this 1854 25¢ grade as cleaned?

I have what looks in hand like a decent 1854 Seated Liberty 25¢, but the smudges around some of the raised areas give me pause. I originally thought about sending it in for grading, but if it would come back as cleaned then what's really the point? Here are long shots, below are some magnifications.




I put the coin under a scope and I'm guessing that those smudges are re-toning from a previous cleaning.






I didn't pay much for this coin and I think I now know why. I still like it regardless, but I'll just keep it loose if it screams "AUGH!!! I'VE BEEN CLEANED!!!"

 

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Not an expert, but it doesn't appear to be a "recent" cleaning.
If it has retoned it might slip through the cracks.
Those types of scratches don't all follow the same pattern like cleaning would, and they appear to be circulation nicks.

 

Looks grade worthy to me.

 

I’m not seeing anything obvious about a cleaning but the color looks a little off. I’d say it has a decent chance of a straight grade

 

An aspect of the year this coin was minted, 1854. A minor World War, Between France, Britain, Turkey, and, later on, Sardinia, against the Russian Empire. It ended in 1856. The United States was not directly involved, but was more sympathetic towards Russia. There was a, very serious, rift between The U.S. and Britain, as Britain had, in an underhand way, attempted to recruit American manpower for the war on the side of the allies. It involved governmental intervention, for the U.S. and Britain, but, luckily, it did not develop into warfare between these two, very powerful, countries.

 

I should have said that it was about the Crimean War.

 

I wouldn't grade it. It looks like an old light cleaning and now its retoning. If it did straight grade, which I doubt, EF-45 would be pushing it. Really not worth the cost involved.

 

OK, I'll be the contrarian. I'm not sure it straight grades.

Some very nasty dings, especially the bullet hole in Liberty's right shoulder. That vs. the relatively high-grade detail in the face... If they don't call it XF Details, they'll silently net grade it down to VF30

 

Wow, I call it AU50, XF45 at worst.

 

Yes, I do think it has been cleaned. However, I think that it is an old cleaning that is probably market acceptable. Based on these pictures, I would not be surprised to see this coin in a problem free holder. It is not the kind of look that I like, but it is market acceptable.

I also think that it grades AU. At this price level, I think that submitting it may be worth it.

 

I see it at au 50 too. Xf 45 if they’re really tough on it

 

Jack Beymer may grade at XF 47 1/2! LOL.

 

8 months ago you're probably right. With how they're grading right now it's probably an XF Details. Classic US submissions are getting brutalized at the moment

 

The 13 stars, surrounding Liberty represent, of course, the 13 States of the Union, at the time (it had not yet become 50!).

 

And he'd price it at a cool 1000.

 

At PCGS? I've had the opposite. 60% of what I send them gets overgraded by a point.

 

Yea. They’re brutal on high grade valuable classics right now. I dunno if there’s a couple new graders there that are timid to assign value to things or what but there’s been a big tightening for those

 

Well that sucks. I just sent them 8k in coins via regular service. Classic U.S. stuff.

 

On the bright side if they’re still doing it when they get to yours you could end up with a bunch of gold stickers

 

Now that's funny. I know where that came from.