1867 Shield Nickel with Rays for grading

Almost every coin has been cleaned at one time or another (old coins).
I guess it depends how harshly or lightly or carefully this was done.
How can someone say, about a 150 year old coin, that they "know", they "guarantee" it has never been cleaned?
I have a 1900 $5 gold, which my grandmother claimed she had when she was a child, when she gave it to me. I have never cleaned it, so that one probably has not been cleaned, if her story was true and not apocryphal. But otherwise I think you have to assume most coins that are very old and in sparkling condition have been cleaned.

 

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Folks, this cleaned/not cleaned thing is not complicated.

Detecting improperly cleaned coins can be/is being taught in grading seminars. You cannot be color blind. Then all that is needed is good eyesight, and proper examination technique (tip & rotate coin at the same time through the light). JP Martin, describes this as making the coin "light dynamic." Most improperly cleaned coins can be detected WITHOUT magnification.

The only things that cause difficulty is that many collectors/dealers couldn't tell a cleaned coin if you scrubbed it with a Brillo pad right in front of them!

Knowledgeable collectors/dealers have their own subjective standards for what is acceptable and what is not so even professional graders can disagree in certain cases. Next, we have crooks who know a coin is cleaned yet choose to ignore it. Then there are the ignorant dealers/collectors who see a few random bright hairlines on a coin and think that it is harshly cleaned. Finally, there are degrees of cleaning with both proper and improper treatment.

If I clean a coin and you cannot tell (no evidence left from the conservation) - IT IS NOT CLEANED! Simple as that.