What are some tell-tale signs of a cleaned coin. I like to put the shiniest coin with the best details in my albums, but I don't want improperly cleaned coins. I read somewhere that a cleaned coin will have a pourus surface, and will be shiny but lack luster. Is this true? Are there any other things I should know? Some pictures would be helpful if possible pointing out certain characteristics of cleaned coins. Thanks for any help.
Lots of lines or streaks in the coin, depending on what way they cleaned the coin, vertical or horizontal.
Yeah, I do see. What should I look for in terms of color? Let's say for the Lincoln pennies, cause that's what I'm focusing on right now.
Usually if you clean a coin, after a while it will turn dull and loose its luster because of whatever chemical is left behind on the coin, You should never clean a coin, unless its professionally done.
In the case of Lincoln Cents color is a great sign of cleaning. There are different reds for the different eras of Lincoln Cents and generally changing slightly with their composition. Get to know these shades. Many times cleaned cents will be pink, or rosy, or red, but not quite the red that we're used to seeing. Those are cleaned. Your eyes will be a better judge than you can imagine. The bronze red is a specific red. The Copper coated Zinc is a different red, the brass cents in red are yet a different color. Learn them and you'll be able to tell as well as the best out there.
It's not as simple as it sounds. On some coins all of those things you mentioned are true, on others all of those things are not true. But yet both have been harshly cleaned. That's the problem with learning how to recognize harshly cleaned coins - there are no hard and fast rules. Sometimes rules apply and sometimes they don't. So what you see on one coin that indicates it has been harshly cleaned, on another coin the very same thing will indicate it was not harshly cleaned. Confused yet ? Most people are. Learning to correctly and consistently identify harshly cleaned coins is one of the more difficult things there is to learn. In simple terms it requires experience, and a good deal of it simply because there are so many variables. Fine hairlines or light scratches all over the surface may indicate that a coin was harshly cleaned. Or - it may merely indicate that the coin was roughly handled at some point in it's life. Or - those fine lines may just from album slide marks. Dirt or grime in the recesses, but yet none on the high points and in the fields may indicate the coin was harshly cleaned. Or - it may indicate that the coin merely a circulated coin because normal circulation tends to wear off the dirt and grime from the high points and fields and leave the dirt and grime in the recesses and protected areas. A lack of luster on a coin with light wear might mean that coin was harshly cleaned. Or - a lack of luster on a coin with light wear might that the coin suffered from a weak strike and therefore it had little luster to begin with. Or - a lack of luster on a coin with light wear might mean that the coin merely suffered an unusual wear pattern. Same thing goes for color, a lack of color or a different shade of color can have many different causes. Beginning to see the problem ? Pretty much any diagnostic you can think of can have many different causes. And while some of them may indicate harsh cleaning, they may not as well. I could write an entire book explaining all of the possible variations and what each means or doesn't mean - and still not cover it all. It's too complicated to explain with words. It requires sitting down with somebody who knows all of this and having them point it out on each individual coin because every single coin there is is unique. And only with extensive experience can you even begin to grasp all of the nuances. And just when you think have - you'll learn that you have not.
I only collect wheat cents (copper) I like the "it just doesn't quite look right" method. For the new collector, I think helps to have Certified Mint State examples to compare against. I felt like I had to buy certified examples to learn what I had left to me, since often people would say the coin I posted looked cleaned. One of the biggest things about copper is that the luster will likely be gone on a cleaned coin. Now with that said, there are exceptions. I recently sold a coin that I thought was original. GD was one of a very few who didn't concur. Much to my dismay, the buyer who paid my full asking price is thrilled with the coin, I had it listed thinking no one would pay the price I had it listed for since it was listed as cleaned. It had a lot of luster in hand however the camera would not pick it up. I have one set of Lincoln wheats is nearly complete of nothing but cleaned coins! When I show that set to the uninitiated, it blows them away. They think it's worth tons. They are completely confused when I show them the brown set and tell em its far more valuable. lol I buy raw and certified cleaned coins that are well struck with no other problems because I appreciate the strike and ignore what ever the perceived value of the coin would be to another collector. Thats the whole point. Collect what you like, but get educated on what you have. If you are familiar with what causes the luster on a coin, expand these pictures all the way up and you will see that the flow lines in the second coin do not reflect light the way the first coin does. It is important to add that I shoot all my Lincoln cents with the same lighting direction for exactly this kind of comparison. Hope all this info helps. Raw Mint State 1909 VDB Cent edited Cleaned Mint State 1909 VDB Cent (probably dipped) edited Your images are infected with the Bloodhound virus so they have been deleted to protect others. Anyone who clicked on the pictures in this post is urged to immediately run a complete virus scan and yes I am deadly serious. Eye - I urge you to do the same for your own protection. Either that, or somebody hacked your Photobucket account.
