Identifying cleaned coins

Can anybody recommend any tips or resources for spotting whether a coin has been cleaned or not? I get confused by this a lot with older coins and don't know exactly what to look for. Any assistance would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

 

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VERY big topic. Takes study. No shortcuts.

 

Best way is to examine untoned, "straight graded" coins of the type you collect in grades of 64 and higher so you learn what an original surface looks like. Then learn to examine your coins properly. Tip and rotate the coin at the same time under strong light while looking for hairlines in the field and "halo color changes" around the relief.

 

Don't look for signs of cleaning. Look for originality. There are thousands of ways a coin may have been improperly cleaned or mishandled, but an original look is an original look. If it doesn't have it, it doesn't really matter how it got that way.

 

That is VERY good. Problem is - it will fly WAAAY over most heads.

 

V. Kurt Bellman, posted: "That is VERY good.

Problem is - it will fly WAAAY over most (?) heads. Based on what? Personal coin club experience?

 

See? The problem is that the solution requires "work" of some sort. And that is what disqualifies many questioners from such wisdom in answers. Our zeitgeist eschews work and wants simple formulaic answers. Numismatics and simple formulaic answers are not a great fit. (Aside from the technical grading fans.)

 

A simple answer would be great but if there isn't one so be it. I don't mind putting in the work, just looking for suggestions for a starting point.

 

Here is just ONE example of where "meatspace" numismatics varies from the cyberspace variety. In "meatspace" it is FAR easier to look at many thousands of coins in a compressed timespan in ALL THREE DIMENSIONS. And while there are PARTS of numismatics that can be dome fairly well in 2-D, the difference between cleaned and original is not typically one. 3-D matters in this area.

 

Nobody really tied to answer his question.

But it is one that books have been written on.

I will try as simply as I can. However, the following only really pertains to silver coins. Copper, nickel and gold are entirely different stories.

For uncirculated coins they should have what is referred to as mint luster. The larger the coin, the more apparent - like silver dollars. Take a silver dollar and reflect light off it while tilting it back and forth in your hand. You should see broad rays and what is referred to as the cartwheel effect. Smaller coins will have this as well but the smaller size makes it harder to see. A cleaned coin will not have the luster or the cartwheel effect. A cleaned silver coin will lose that luster and take on an almost monotone surface. Cleaning sort of sucks the life out of a coin.

And the same goes for a circulated coins. On circulated coins, the crevices around the features and the letters and numbers should have dirt and tarnish. It’s what gives a circulated coin character. Cleaning removes all that. A worn coin should not look shiny.

Most coins that are cleaned are dipped in a solution of cleaner. Some can be very mild and diluted to make their effect on a coin less drastic. And there are stories about how someone dipped a coin and improved it. All I can say is that for every coin that was improved by a cleaning (in this case dipping), probably a thousand were ruined.

You might hear about the use of acetone or xylene on coins, that’s another chapter entirely. But those are two chemicals that can be used to clean a coin (when done properly) that will not remove any of the luster or tarnish from a coin (silver and silver tarnish is nonreactive to either chemical). For instance, let's say you got some tape adhesive on a coin. A brief soak in acetone would remove the adhesive without hurting the coin.
I got some circulated Walking Liberty halves that had some sort of hardened oil or paint on them. A soak in acetone removed the oil and left the coins looking as they were intended to look - like circulated Walkers.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Cleaning circulated coins to make them look new and shinny is a rookie mistake. I'd bet most of the people on this board did it in there early collecting days. I remember taking copper cleaner to all the pennies in my penny collection when I was 8 or 9.

 

Jaelus, posted: "Look for originality."

It does not get any simpler! You can start with your pocket change.

 

I'll agree the number is big. 1,000 might be a little extreme. Sundance's post raised a question for me. Anybody ever tried really OLD tape residue? I once passed on bidding on a really old album full of nice coins, every one of which was taped in, decades before.

 

@NCnovice, why do you want to know that? I'm serious. I have a good answer to your question coming up if you put some thought into that and answer it.

 

(trembling in anticipation) (final Jeopardy theme music in head)

 

V. Kurt Bellman, posted: "I'll agree the number is big. 1,000 might be a little extreme."

IMO, based on personal experience plus what I've actually seen, NOT AT ALL. A knowledgeable person ruins very few of the coins he/she desides to work on. For all the others, I'll bet the figure is well over 1000 to 1.

 

Agreed. Are THAT many people really doing it? (What am I saying? - OF COURSE they are!)

 

Funny you should ask. I just had a Walking Liberty that had tape on it. So while the acetone removed the adhesive, the toning under the tape was different than the rest of the coin. So you can still see where the tape was. On some other Walkers that had some oily, dirty spots it was sort of strange. Some of the spots were removed and you couldn't tell where they had been. Some spots were removed and the tarnish underneath was lighter. So they became light spots on the coin. And some of the other spots weren't touched one bit.

 

[THIS is a central Pennsylvania EXTREME indoor static electricity discharge warning! Cats have been injured, or at least annoyed. Retribution is expected to be swift and perhaps smelly.]

 

Often times, they don't know why in the hell. They don't know that, they start off on the wrong hoof.

 

Sounds like a mixed bag. Worth it?