Cleaned and Polished?

Just to double check. If I a coin has been cleaned/polished, does it matter what word I use? specifically with selling. (example: if a coin has been polished, and I put "cleaned", would that be wrong?)



stainless

 

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I would think you would want to use the correct word , cleaning can be anything from a soak in water to excessive dipping , where polishing is more destructive ( most of the times ) and usually involves rubbing the coin with a cloth or machine , so to me it dooes matter , just describe what was done to the coin in the best of your ability .
rzage:smile:hatch::hammer:

 

Absolutely. Cleaned is just cleaned. Polished is what people do to make coins look like a proof. Dipping is usually not tagged as cleaned or polished but that too depends on how much dipping, dipping in what, etc.
Some time ago I purchased POLISHED coins purposely to see if I could make them almost look normal. Forgot to post photos of them as they were. Back about 02/15 or there about I posted photos of them after several treatments. Last Sunday at a coin show I purchased a Buffalo Nickel that was POLISHED, not cleaned, just polished. Appears with that proof looking image. Tomorrow I will photo that and then start the same process of trying to get it back to normal.
To sum it up YES, saying cleaned if polished is wrong. Polished coins are really horrible. I've purchased many cleaned coins that were noted as cleaned. In many instances it is difficult to notice a slight cleaning.
No such thing as a slightly polished coin.

 

I will give you my interpretation even if it is only meaningful to me. Cleaning encompasses virtually anything from soap and water; verdi-gone; steel wool; et al while polishing is just that. Like all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares; all polished coins have been cleaned, but not all cleaned coins have been polished.

 

You meant all rectangles are squares, but not all squares are rectangles. It was pointed out that I didn't use the correct "jargon" when I didn't distinguish cleaning from conserving (I am new didn't know there was such a fantastic difference between the two). I know what you meant though and see past the grammatical error, just hope my critic can see the parallel.

 

No! Not all rectangles are squares.

 

But all rectangles ARE forms of squares.

 

This is why you shouldn't read someting in a Coin Forum and then armed with that knowledge, rush off to a Coin Show!

 

They are if all sides are equal and all corners are the same angles.

 

Or did you mean you SHOULD read something in a coin forum and rush off to a coin show but forget what you read? Or if you do read something in a coin forum and rush off to a coin show you may get there to late due to spending time on the coin forum. If you don't read something in a coin forum, then you wouldn't know what you shouldn't have known. :thumb:

 

Me too. I greatly enjoy the hands-on aspect of trying to conserve coins that are considered beyond repair. So far I have only experimented with morgans. There is no downside to failure since the coins are already "ruined."

It's an interesting aspect of the hobby that goes beyond the normal careful handling and storage of coins.

 

You can always say that a rectangle is square (4 equal corners and a square doesn't have to be equal sides to be square). You can't say that a square is always a rectangle. (since a rectangle, by definition, constitutes normally two longer sides combined with two shorter sides).

 

Oh, just put it on ebay and say you are not an expert, you recieved the coin in an inheritance, and the word u-grade and you're off the hook! Ebay won't let you list a grading opinion if it's not certified, but lying is OK. I'm just kidding. I think if you say cleaned or polished, you are at least telling potential buyers the surface is altered. Why split hairs? It's probably unrepairable by most standards anyway... Or you could waste time trying to figure out if it's cleaned or polished.

 

Please look up your definitions before proceeding.

 

Not really. Or at least by definition.
Properties or a rectangle:
All angles are 90 degrees.
Opposite sides are equal in length.
Opposite sides are parallel.
Diagonals are equal in length and bisect each other.
Nothing states in my math books that opposite sides must be of different lengths.
Meanwhile at last Sundays Coin Show I purchased a rediculously polished Buffalo Nickel. It is now in Acetone in a glass jar for one day now. Tomorrow I'll move it to Laquer Thinner for several days. Then back to a paint thinner for a day or so, soaking in warm distilled water for a day, then on to my Kitchen window sill while still damp.

Difficult to notice the excessive shine on from this photo but it is highly polished. After a few weeks and then breathing on it, I'll try some more photos. Let you all know.
Presently have a Walker Half and a Mercury Dime on that window sill for several weeks now. They too were extreamely polished.

 

Is that system for real and if so does it really work ?? I too have some merc's highly polished.

 

Carl, I bet Biox would take the polish off that coin...

I'm going to try it on this polished coin of mine: http://www.cointalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=547242

Undiluted, Biox has a strange effect on copper... it will turn it almost pink. Hopefully this coin will retone naturally once I get past the polished surface. I'll keep you posted.

Oh, and if you wanted to look into Biox and didn't know where to find it, you can find it here: www.dirtyoldcoins.com

 

Tom,

If you want to save face you should not pursue this. No offence but rlm and Carl are correct and you are wrong. Maybe you just got your wires crossed.

Rectangles can be different but all share the traits pointed out by Carl. Squares are a subset of rectangles. A square is a TYPE of rectangle. All squares are rectangles. But not all rectangels are squares.

This is probably a bad analogy but here goes:

Ford makes Mustangs. Ford also makes other models. All Mustangs are Fords. But not all Fords are Mustangs.

 

I stand corrected. I picked up my version of that somewhere in grade school and held onto it all these years. I don't know how the nuns let me get out of there believing that. You mean I'm wrong? Again? That's twice now since 1962.

 

I posted some photos of a Merc and Walking Liberty Half about a month ago that were highly polished and now on a kitchen window sill. Some posted they could still tell the polishing so they are still on the window sill. This Buffalo Nickel is still in Acetone. I forgot to start with the Laquer Thinner but will do that tomorrow.
It may and may not work. To much depends on what was used to polish those coins.