Can a coin be uncirculated if it has been cleaned? I know someone selling some coins, and they look uncirculated. Another friend of mine said they looked cleaned, and then said because they have been cleaned they couldn't be uncirculated. So, my question is can a coin that's been cleaned be uncirculated? Thank you!
No, unless it was cleaned by the Mint, it has been issued to someone, and has therefore been circulated, even if only by one person. 'Appears Uncirculated is what UNC really means. But it's clumsy so people say Unc.
If a coin is advertised as cleaned, it may well have been improperly cleaned. If it has been improperly cleaned, the coin is worth much less. It would do you well to begin to learn the difference between a proper & improper cleaning - I say begin because it's a long process that requires much experience. You may want to start by searching threads on CT (there are many) and they are long.
Yes, there are many coins certified mint state that have been cleaned. To go one better, does anyone doubt that, at some point in US Mint history, workers had an accident of some sort . . . spilled press oil or some other contaminant into a bin of coins . . . and subsequently cleaned the coins off before sending them to the banks? In a couple of hundred years, I can't picture that not happening.
So all the MS coins in slabs were submitted to the TPG's by the Mint? (Including all those 19th century Morgans.) After all if they were submitted by anyone else then they MUST have been issued to someone and according to what you say they HAVE to be circulated and not MS.
Wait, wait, this makes no sense, 1, why would an UNC coin need to be cleaned? and I can come up with a couple of reasons, 2. if it's in a roll, Philo pack, whatever, leave it alone. 3. above AU Morgan's might need a bath, but ever so sparingly, 4. I know a guy that uses silver polish on his mint sets because he didn't like the plastic wrap, please tell your not doing that.
Someone telling you that they did it. I have soaked coins in acetone, distilled water or distilled water and Verdi-care and stated I did on an Ebay listing. Obviously the buyers found this acceptable and purchased them.
I guess it's been a while since we had a thread like this, thus the question that began it. And as always the answer begins with another question. What is the definition of an uncirculated coin ? Answer, a coin that has no wear. And of course there is a caveat that goes along with that definition. It is - assuming the coin is not damaged. And of course the thing you have to realize is that the term "damaged" takes in a lot of territory for there are many forms of damage, many different ways in which a coin can be damaged. It can be severe rim dings, scratches, gouges, harsh cleaning, artificial toning, test cuts, the list goes on. But in simple terms, if a coin has no wear it is uncirculated. If it has wear, it is not uncirculated. And because of that definition even a coin that is in actual circulation, being used in commerce in other words, can still be uncirculated. An example of that would be a coin can be taken right from the drawer of a cash register in a store and still be correctly and accurately graded as being uncirculated if it has no wear. And just to reinforce what has already been said, yes a coin can be properly cleaned and still be uncirculated. There are literally tens of millions of coins that have been properly cleaned and graded as MS.
So, an uncirculated coin is a coin that has been or may have been circulated, but shows no signs of it. (irony) I should have added an (irony) tag to my first post.
Well, a coin is still uncirculated when the bank roll is opened and it's dropped into the cash register drawer - so, if it's immediately taken from the drawer, by its edges, it would have no wear. I look for the tiniest amount of rub (wear) on the high points (details) to determine if it's uncirculated.
But trying to tell which of those tiny tick marks are from circulation and which are from contact with other coins in the bags from the mint or from the other coins in the rolling machines is a REAL problem. Which is why we now talk about MS much of the time instead of "uncirculated". Because so many newbies find the idea that a coin from circulation can be Uncirculated confusing.