Does anyone know where I could find a tutorial or perhaps some pics of coins (particularly Mercury Dimes) that have been cleaned? I would like to start another Mercury Dime album of higher quality pieces and I do not want any coins that have been cleaned. I know that cleaned coins show "hairlines" most of the time, but I am having a hard time determining what a hairline looks like and what is considered normal wear for the grade. Case in point... I bought a 1942 2 over 1 Mercury Dime at a coin show in Texas last year. I paid $450 for it and it looked pretty good to me as far as I could tell. I sent it off to ANACS where it came back XF-45 Details Cleaned. Now I do not feel like made a terribly bad deal beacuse I could probably recover my money and buy one that hasn't been cleaned (in a lower grade of course). I just would like to get some pictures to go by on telltale signs of cleaning so that I am less likely to buy a cleaned coin in the future. Thanks
Learning how to detect harshly cleaned coins or coins with altered surfaces is one of the hardest things there is to learn. And to my knowledge, no, there is no book on the subject. I guess the reason there is no book on the subject is because it is something that you have to learn by looking at physical coins in hand - not by looking at pictures. I can take hundreds of pictures of harshly cleaned coins, post them, and not one of them would be identified as having been harshly cleaned. And it would not be because the pictures were altered or messed with. You can make pictures show or not show whatever you want just by changing the lighting a bit, changing the angle, changing camera settings. Pictures are very deceptive. To truly learn you have to do it in person. Now we have discussed this a hundred times and there are several things to look for. But it always depends on the coins as to exactly what you look for. Different denominations have different characteristics. Different degrees of wear have different charcateristics. And sometimes some of those characteristics can be the same for harsh cleaning as they are for some kinds of wear patterns. Do you begin to see the problem ? But there is a way out, if you do not want to buy harshly cleaned coins then don't buy raw coins. Only buy coins that are already slabbed by NGC or PCGS and you won't have to worry about it. Now you're probably gonna say something like - but slabbed coins are too expensive ? Well, are they really ? How many raw coins do you have to buy only to have a TPG tell you later that they are cleaned before you begin to realize how much money you are losing ? All of that lost money could go towards buying coins that are already slabbed. In the end - it's cheaper that way. Now I am not saying this in an effort to disuade you from learning how to recognize harshly celaned coins on your own - far from it. By all means learn how. But you need to find somebody that already knows how and have them teach you face to face. And in the meantime only buy slabbed coins. Once you learn - then you can buy raw coins.
A really tuff question there. You should get some decent suggestions on how to detect cleaned coins but those are for the usually highly cleaned ones that almost anyone should be able to tell. A very slightly cleaned coin is not so easily noticed. Usually if there is no dirt in those little tiny spots like inside a letter or number, it may have been cleaned. However, many really high grade coins have never been in circulation so they then look like they were cleaned. If a coin is obviously well worn and looks new, it most likely has been cleaned. But there too a coin could be worn and just not get dirty so that too is really no proof pending on how that coin has been circulated. A dealer I know sent in a Mercury Dime for authenticating and it came back as a cleaned coin. He resent it to another TPGS and it came back graded and no mention of cleaning. Your sending to ANACS may well be similar but the expense to have coins regraded over and over until you get what you want is not necessarily cost effective either. Some dealers do this since they may well make out in the sale eventually. Usually when this subject comes up, and it does often, there are some really decent replys, As to any cleaned coins. If they are in such a condition that you can not easily tell if cleaned, your not planning on selling them, it should make little difference if they were ever cleaned anyway.
The PCGS Guide to Grading and Counterfeit Detection has a section on altered coins, which includes a subsection on cleaned coins. There are descriptions of the various types of cleaning, as well as photographic examples. There is no substitute to having coins in-hand, though. When you're at a coin show, look for coins that are in ANACS "details" holders that state the coin has been cleaned. Study these, and you will begin to learn. You may also consider asking dealers. Just tell them you want to learn about cleaned coins, and ask if they have any examples. This will work best with a dealer with whom you are already somewhat familiar.
That's a vitally important point. This is one reason coin shows are so useful. Go to the show, and bring your cleaned coin. Compare to other coins which slabbed. Also, pick out coins you know are cleaned i.e. ones in "cleaned" slabs like yours. Compare them to "full grade" slabs. Look at many, many coins. Don't be shy. Another useful tip on identifying hairlines - look at proof coins graded PR62 and PR63 or so. Hairlines are one prime reason they are graded that low. They often have no other problems, so the hairlines tend to be very high profile. Often, the problems you see are hairlines and only hairlines, so it's a great way to learn about hairlines. Which means that "hairlines happen" for reasons other than cleaning. Those PR63s aren't cleaned, just hairlined. No doubt you will find a few "full grade" slabs which have cleaned coins (a mistake, obviously, but nobody's perfect). Yes, sometimes a cleaned coin slips by the TPGs . That's one reason Doug strongly encouraged learning to ID cleaning on your own, and not blindly trusting the TPGs.
