A Ramble about Dirty Coins

There is no trick, it is just knowledge and experience. Perhaps the easiest and first step to that knowledge is common sense.

But even before that, there is something else that we must employ - proper use of terminology. That is because there is a vast difference between cleaning and harsh/improper cleaning. The former is OK, the latter is not. There are literally millions of coins out there in the best TPG slabs that have been cleaned, but none that have been harshly cleaned.

The coin you pictured for example, while I would agree with you that the coin has AU details, low AU but AU just the same, but look at the surfaces of the coin. Does it look like any other AU example you have seen in a TPG slab ?

No, it doesn't. The entire coin is covered with what I would describe as looking much like the frost on a cameo Proof - meaning that the surface is not smooth, but rather that it has a rough texture to it. Kind of like little pin pricks all packed so close to each other that you cannot see any space in between them. And the surface appears whitish almost because of it.

Now, it looks ot me as if your picture is actually a scan, and not a photgraph. This alone usually makes seeing any luster difficult if not impossible. But given the look of the surfaces, I can almost guarantee you that the coin has no luster. And an AU coin should have luster. And if an AU coin does not have luster, it is because something has been done to it.

Now so far you haven't employed special knowledge to make a determination. You have only used common sense. But yet you know a lot as a result of using that common sense. Now take it one step further. And again, all you are doing is looking at the coin and using common sense.

The coin has obviously been in circulation given all the marks and small scratches that are plainly visible. And the coin is 67 years old. But yet there is not one speck of dirt or toning on the coin, not one. There is not even a speck in the protected recesses.

Now any coin that sees circulation will acquire a certain amount of dirt or oils from people's hands if nothing else. And any silver coin that is anything but brand new will have some toning, no matter how slight. But this coin has neither, so again, you know something has been done to it.

Here is where a little bit of knowledge and experience comes into play, that is in determining what was done to the coin to give it this look. There really is only one thing that removes all trace of luster, removes all toning, removes dirt & oils, and causes that rough texture look - and that is dipping the coin. More correctly, over-dipping the coin. And over-dipping a coin is considered to be harsh/improper cleaning.

Now it took me about 4 seconds to realize all of this and it was just by looking at the coin and using common sense - deductive reasoning. With a touch of knowledge and experience thrown in. There was no trick, no special knowledge. It was really quite simple if you just stop and think about it for a minute.

That's why the dealer you mentioned above was able to do what he did, as fast as he did.