hi i have a 1955 double die penny that my father had since 1955 .today i took it to a coin grader and at first he said it was fake. then he apoligized and said he was wrong it was real it had been cleaned and only worth a couple of hundred dollars. he said he could tell it was cleaned because the color was off. to my knowlage this coin has never been cleaned . my father told me when i was young that you never clean a coin.this coin is all red and in excelant shape.i know it has not been out of its case since he found it.this coin came directly from the bank as his father worked there and used to bring the coins home for him to go through. how can i tell if this coin has realy been cleaned thanks
You may consider submitting it to one of the Third-party-graders (PCGS, NGC). They can determine if it has been cleaned or not and will assign a grade to it.
lilozzie, Keep that coin in a 2x2 mylar flip or even better an airtite holder before it gets damaged of exposed to the environment. Then find a reputable dealer that will submit the coin for you to PCGS or NGC or ANA CS. Make sure it's shipped USPS REGISTERED MAIL and INSURED. It very well may be worth thousands if it is a 1955 Doubled Die Obverse in Mint State condition. Take care and good luck.
Accurately determining whether or not a copper coin has been cleaned is a very debatable field! I have seen coins body bagged for cleaning yet on subsequent submissions, they get graded. Copper, is not absolute and can change color according to its environment. Even slabbed, Red copper can turn brown. If this coin has been in your family since being found in 1955, you have every reason to believe that it has not been cleaned and I feel confident that submitting it for grading would prove that point. In this day and age, having these rarities graded is your only protection to insure that they do not get inadvertantly sold at an extreme loss to some less than scrupulous individual!
keep it in the holder Hello lilozzie, Of course, all of us would like to see a photo of your coin. You should keep it in the holder. You know that it should not be cleaned or handled in any way. Also, until you find yourself a good coin dealer that you trust, don’t let anyone at a coin shop take it out of the holder. There are idiots out there that do not know how to handle rare copper coins. They can very easily damage the coin by touching it or simply talking over it while it is exposed. The 1955 is one coin that really should be authenticated & graded by a third party grading service. There are many fake 55/55 cents. When it is certified by one of the better grading services, the coin will be very easy to sell. The trusted dealer can recommend to you one of the big three grading services. The big three are (in no particular order) NGC, PCGS, and ANACS. The dealer can explain the grading fee and explain what these companies will do for your money. The fee can be anything between $20 for normal service and hundreds of dollars for 1-day service. You can see the fee structure by going to the grading service Website. http://www.ngccoin.com/ http://www.pcgs.com/ http://www.anacs.com/ Very best regards, collect89
