I always have trouble figuring out if a coin has been cleaned. Got this mediocre Peace Dollar ,and wonder if it’s been cleaned. Thanks in advance!
Cleaned but not harshly cleaned. In other words there are no hairlines or signs of abrasive cleaning that show up in your picture. Properly conserved is the term I prefer. The lack of luster can be attributed to circulation wear. The picture does not show a dull coin with lifeless surfaces which can be caused by excessive chemical cleaning. (Dip) You have some light (nice) straw colored toning blooming. The coin certainly has some stories to tell but nothing to hide. Enjoy!
My take its been scrubbed, look closely hair lines going every direction....then thown in a a pocket piece to disguise the hair lines, and as other have said dipped. Pass at retail at spot sure its silver.
Hey Bear It not that none of us haven't purchased a cleaned coin before. It happens sometimes by mistake ,sometimes on purpose. Mike at the mod and "toughcoins" just started a thread on detail coins. Yes I have by mistake and on purpose...the example I put up is a 1869 half dime....keys as well semi keys in this series have such low mintages the 1847,most of 1863 -69 are tough dates. Sometimes one must accept a detail or problem coin...as if you don't you may never have an opportunity to find another,detailed or not. It comes down to this short question " what can I live with"? At the end of the day its your call....your collection.. and the only person you need please is you.
Thanks Paddy. I'm not bothered by it being cleaned at all. I came across it really cheap ($20), and wanted it for my collection. I suspected it had been cleaned, I'm just not good at discerning past cleaning yet. Working on it though.
I agree.... And here's something else...a 10 meg camera shows everything...everything! The 28 s I just purchased looks great in hand image It with the 10 meg... And it looks horrible. I purchased it for an album not top pop....so im ok that it looks fine in hand . A friend of mine and I were discussing the possibility of using a 10 meg camera to id stolen coins. Lets say you imaged your collection and had great images.coins like finger prints have patterns , nicks,bumps marks in general. If stolen for the most part one could id the stolen coins. Even if other marks were put on them... but a thief isnt worried about that...they only want the money. So they just dump them for cash.
I see no signs of harsh/improper cleaning on the obv, but I do on the rev. The obv however has been damaged with gouges and scratches. That makes the coin a problem coin for 2 different reasons. But, you paid basic junk silver price so no real harm done financially.
Doug Do you not believe that the coin was either carried or tumbled to make it look as natural 100 + years of circulation? I see this quite often to hide those hair lines.
I image many silver dollars were cleaned at some point. I know the casinos in Reno were washing the sliver dollars in big drums in the 50s as dirty coins were jamming the slot machines. Maybe you have an example of that.
There's never any way that anybody could ever know, stress know, that is what happened. Sure, one could speculate that's what happened, but at best it's only a guess because the same kind of wear occurs from normal circulation. And besides that, it doesn't make any difference if that's what happened or not. The coin is damaged, the rev has been harshly cleaned, and that's all anybody really needs to know.
As many have stated before, haven't most all older coins have been cleaned in different ways? It is a personal choice to want and/or need a certain coin that may or may not have been cleaned, although not harshly. After all, it is now your coin and if you like the way it looks, disregard any and all criticisms and enjoy it.
