I need an extra set of eyes to take a look at this half. What do you think besides the obvious cleaning? Thanks Ben
Ben, looks like a 53-5 (changed after viewing on desktop) from here (cleaned though). How bad is the cleaning? Is the coin blast white, or is it hairlined? From here it simply looks dipped and rubbed a tad. Nice coin! I like it.
I see a coin that was once pretty nice but has seen a recent "improvement". I grade the coin about $75 and would describe it as XF details, cleaned, net VF. If it were my money, I would wait for one with more wear (perhaps a VG or F) BUT with more original surfaces. Humbly submitted....Mike
In another thread I mentioned that I often don't mind cleaning. This however, is an example of cleaning that I don't particularly care for. Not my cup of East Indian Tea either.
I would say that that is a very nice half to start with. This coin has been improved in my opinion and looks like a mighty fine cleaning. Remember all cleaning is not bad if you know what you are doing and its not HARSHLY cleaned. An expert cleaning can improve certain coins.
This is a good perspective and one I'd like to take a minute to expound on... I'm often hard on cleaned coins, perhaps overly so, but I really don't like old coins that are completely white like the present example. It's not so much the look (although they do look unnatural) as much as you have no idea what the coin is going to look like once it has retoned in a few years. It may very well turn out to be be splotchy or otherwise unattractive, as is often the case for harshly cleaned coins or ones improperly dipped. However, I am more accepting of coins with old cleanings that have since retoned, as their look is much more likely to be stable than one "just dipped". Zaneman's draped bust quarter posted tonight is a good example of a coin that has likely been cleaned but would still be considered acceptable -- to me at least. Just my opinion and personal preference, nothing more....Mike [edited for clarity]
Agree. Here's a (I am pretty sure) cleaned example I could live with (though I can understand why others wouldn't like it)...
