detecting a cleaned coin

is their a definite way to tell if a coin has been cleaned? i know a few signs but am wanting to know for sure, thanks

 

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Hairline scratches. Lack of luster in a higher grade coin. Off color on copper coins. Dark areas around the devices. Just to name a few...

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The best way to learn what to spot is to look at detail graded coins that have been designated as such. either on eBay, PCGS and many more. The more you look at them the more it jumps out at you. just like anything else, practice...BruceS

 

Cleaned coins usually are blurry. If a coin is uncirculated and lacks all luster, most likely it has been cleaned. However, mostly for Morgans, a coin should not have give off a blinding reflection. That is a polished coins. If a coin has parallel lines that go across the surface, that is one of the biggest red flags. Also, coins that have been cleaned will usually retone and have an unnatural look to them. It's easy to spot a retoned if you put it next to a naturally toned coin. If you think a coin has been cleaned, do not buy it. The more experience you have, the easier it is to spot coins.

Here's one of my dimes. Note the vertical scratches.

 

opinions? looks cleaned to me..for a 1935..paid 22$

 

Unfortunately, yes it does look detailed.

 

too detailed eh...

 

and the term " whizzed" or whizzing it was done eith a dremel type polishing pad..that would definitely be another sign eh...

 

no answer is a bad one, considering, great info though thanks

 

http://coinauctionshelp.com/page22.html#.WPl1P_nyvIV

This article has been passed around through the years. I think it's a good starting place to identifying the different types of cleaning.

 

I was about to post this very same thread as odinsruleq8 did, so I thought it would be a good time to jump in. Although I have been collecting for almost four decades now, I really don't know very much. I guess you could say that I am a "numismatic loner" as none of my family or friends collect coins (except my deceased father who introduced to coin collecting when I was a child). I am familiar with all type coins, key dates, metal composition and factual things of that sort; however, now that slabbed coins have been readily available online (eBay), I have relied on the grading companies to know whether or not a coin has been cleaned. I don't intend to turn my reply into a novel, but I wanted to provide a little background so you may have a better understanding of my perspective.

I have a Dansco album for Washington quarters that has been collecting dust for years now, so I decided to put it to use. I have almost completed the set with BU coins that I have broken out of slabs. As you may know, many of the Washingtons from the 1930s are very expensive in nice grades, and in some cases I have spent too much money for a coin that is going into this album. But what choice do I have?

It seems raw coins are easier to find and are less expensive, but, unless a coin was scrubbed clean with steel-wool, I would have a hard time determining whether a coin has been cleaned (especially buying online). It seems like the only way to tell if a coin has been cleaned is to have had the experience of examining thousands of coins - something I will never have.

I have read and appreciated the article cited above by tmoneyeagles, and the examples illustrated appear to be relatively easy to recognize. But, when I search eBay for third party graded Morgan dollars, there are a plethora of slabs designated "cleaned." Upon studying the photos, I found some that are obvious to me. However, there are too many where I could not tell. I was hoping to start collecting another series of coins by purchasing them raw (for the most part). Since I saw this post, I am wondering how others here at the forum have been become versed in assessing raw coins. Am I the loner here or do many others depend on third party graders as well?

 

I am in total agreement with you..and do have the same start, as far as my start in collecting..my father who got the "itch" as he use to say..from my grandad ..and its awesome to know guys like " us" still are around..Ive been collecting ..30 + years..with a few breaks in between..and its a definite learning process..and now that I've gotten back to it..as far as investment and hoping to pass on..with technology as it is now how can you really tell? ive heard of laser cleaning..people actually baking coins for toning.. ectera ectera... live, learn, and share..

 

i have noticed as well that as far as grading that some ..and not one of the top three,, so to say..do grade just as good and sometimes better then PCGS,NCG,ANACs,, experience, experience, experience,,,and I have switched to an old type magnifier 4x...and just plain eyesight..with glasses..thanks again..great site here..

 

I am much more worried about fake coins, than I am with cleaned coins.

 

When you use the term "harshly cleaned" instead of just cleaned, or lightly cleaned, being passed now by the TPGS, I find it very disturbing. I understand that they may be a little more lenient towards the grading, but for them to straight grade problem coins is unethical to me. Why do people attempt to resubmit coins, hoping for an upgrade when they know that the new grade is fictitious, unless they are trying to deceive others, (or themselves) into believing that the new grade, or details grade is actually true, and they disgraced the coin originally. It seems to me that one should keep the coin in the original holder, if the grading system was more accurate then. I'm speaking about NGC, or PCGS. Will we one day see a MS70 Morgan, Peace, or a harshly cleaned Trade dollar, being market acceptable ? How far are the grading services willing to go, to keep the money flowing in ???

 

Ditto. With the graders rushing through the actual grading process, to pump out the volume, how could they not make mistakes, not only in the grade, but whether they are cleaned, and yes even detecting counterfeits.

 

35,787,329 graded as of 4/22. I know very little about how the actual "grading process" is conducted, especially considering almost 36 million coins. I have been using third party graders to primarily authenticate the coin. The grading numbers do not mean much to me. In many cases, I feel that there is too much emphasis placed upon assigning a single number to a coin to ascribe all of its aesthetic attributes and, ultimately, it price. But this is another topic. As far as counterfeit coins, I am beginning to wonder what will happen to coin collecting if it comes to a point when third party graders are unable to successfully authenticate coins. How hard can it be to duplicate 19th century technology especially operating outside US borders? This graded liberty nickel is going for $500.