to clean or not to clean, has this coin been there

Completely agree. One also has to consider that dirt is prone to accumulate around the devices, that's where it naturally settles during circulation.

 

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I know and you are right but i've seen coins with 90% less scratches than that get a details grade. If you take a look under the st of states on the reverse, now that's a good little scrubbing, IMO

 

Very proof like and covered with die polish lines. I thought it was a proof at a glance. The lines would make it a low grade proof and why it's a 62

 

I'm most surprised it didn't get a pl designation. A beautiful coin imo

 

You are right it is a nice coin and I guess that's why I'm here still learning, so you believe they are die polishing lines, well I'll be darn i took them for cleaning. Thanks

 

Well the reality is they are cleaning but of the die not the coin. Many pl examples have them. Why their pl. it probably had some foreign matter or coin remains stuck to it they scrubbad the crap out of it with a wire brush polished it a bit to get some but not all of those scratches out and commenced striking coins again.

 

The 1859 in the OP looks to be high enough grade that the appearance of it does not automatically indicate cleaned to me. The pictures aren't clear enough to make out hairlines. An in hand evaluation would be required.

And the 1866 linked in the Legend Auction is beautiful. I normally go for a higher grade for my set, but the strongly prooflike fields and cameo contrast are highly attractive. The die polish is characteristic of these coins. That being said, with a grade of 62, there are clearly numerous marks on the coin (prooflike fields tend to show every mark, and light hairlines will appear much more severe than on a regular coin).

 

Very interesting.
That 1866 is so stunning that I thought it was a Proof or PL.
However, the polish lines in the fields are weird and distracting for such cameo devices.
I had never seen an example like that with cameo and die polishing lines, neato: one must learn something everyday, and I just did.

 

Yeah, that coin is cleaned but still a nice coin

 

What a nice coin, I really like all the half dollar coins. When I see a cleaned coin, especially one that's been cleaned with a wire brush, I wonder what were the thoughts and expression like when he/she was doing the dirty deed. Was the cleaning for greed to make more money or just a neat freak.

 

PCGS will not designate coins of this series or most others as PL or DMPL. The exceptions are Morgan Dollars and a number of modern coins. This post is only meant to apply to U.S. coins.

 

There is no way that I would offer an opinion based on those photos. The coin could be cleaned, but it could also be original. It is one of the "must see in hand" coins.

 

Depends. A lot of really destructive and very obvious cleaning is done by well meaning people who have no idea they are doing anything wrong. The coins where it's not so obvious usually had a profit motive driving their abuse.