Are you absolutely sure about that? Because I distinctly remember reading on this very site that what Dan Carr does is the crime. Was I misled? It was on the Internet, so it has to be true, right? 'Cuz they don't let just any unvetted source have a website, right?
If you "ax" the U.S. Mint real nice like, maybe they can make you some, in gold, about the size of a nickel. "Crime Against Humanity Coins, Too - The Sequel"
Glad people are having fun with this. I remember being in a thrift shop where they had some coin in a display case and I was looking at it when a guy next to me pulled out a walking liberty half that was polished like this and was proudly showing it to me...I had to walk away before I laughed or cried. @SuperDave I think you could do this with a Jeweler's Cloth or metal polish if you really tried.
Your 2 points: 1 - and if the pitting on the coin was present before it was polished ? 2 - I disagree, the protected areas on a coin are easily accessed wit a jeweler's cloth. They aren't that deep to begin with and the cloth is made to do exactly that. Now I'm not saying that the coin was absolutely polished with a jeweler's cloth. Yes, it is possible that someone used a buffing wheel. I just think it far more likely that they didn't.
Just think... somebody finished buffing those and said, "that's perfect. I did a great job. I really like the way that looks."
And I think the opposite, but your points are all valid and, well, it wouldn't be the first time I was wrong. Either way, this is merely a sideline discussion since we'll never know for sure how the coin got to be in that state, unless it's examined closely enough to identify the presence of physically-moved metal (assuming it's there).
I wouldn't be surprised if Columbian half dollars have the highest proportion of polished coins within their surviving population of any coin. Seems like every inherited coin collection has a polished or harshly cleaned Columbian.