You can still find some luster on AU coins too but it will be fairly broken. MS coins have very nice luster.Some AU58 look way better then the same coin type/ year in MS60.
AU coins can have good luster - and cartwheels. But luster is very delicate and is one of the first things to suffer when the coin is circulated.
Could you say that a coin has good luster without seeing the cartwheel effect (as you tilt the coin back and forth). Perhaps I don't understand the cartwheel concept well enough . . .
Some coins have different luster then others but luster is luster is luster.... It's just rippling from the metal when it was struck, and it's the first thing to rub/ wear off as Hobo said.
check out the tinny ripples everywhere on the coin, on the flat part "wich is called the field" it's very nice. If someone were to rub this coin with a piece of cloth and silv-o it would all go away and the coin would look like a mirror and would loose alot of it's value.
Cartwheel luster is luster that spins around a coin as it is tilted. The name comes from a spinning cartwheel. Some coins often have great cartwheel luster (e.g., Morgan Dollars). Others do not. The absense of cartwheel luster does not necessarily mean a coin does not have good luster.
Thank you Hobo, that is good to know for a Newbie like me. I would think seeing a cartwheel on a Merc Dime, for example, would be difficult compared to a Morgan.
Yes, absolutely. Actually it isn't. But a Peace dollar, now that would be a good example. I'll get flack for it, but I'd say that many people don't understand, perhaps misunderstand would be a better word, luster. For there are many different types of luster. But all of them will show the cartwheel effect - it's just a matter of degree. Of course there's a good reason that many don't understand luster, that's because they haven't seen enough examples of it or compared one type to another. You have to understand that each series has its own unique type of luster that cannot be compared to the luster on other series in most cases.
Great response. Yes, I have heard that each series has its own type of luster. I guess that is why it takes years to become really good at grading. Also the reason why it makes sense for a new collector to concentrate on just a couple of different coins, and become semi-proficient at those first. Would you agree? I guess that's just common sense. Thanks!
To cjh1985: For more understanding (a past Trivia Post of mine here on Coin Talk) read this: http://www.cointalk.com/forum/t49855/ Clinker :high5:
Wow, what a great thread! Unfortunately I can not see the coin photos unless I am subscribed to "coin archives". $600 a year. Is that a good service - is it worth it?
I presume you meant "without having a cartwheel" Yes. Many proof coins have fabulous luster which does not "cartwheel".
Sure they do. But it will be a very narrow band of reflection instead of a wide one like with a Morgan. Sit and turn one under the light - see it for yourself.
cjh1985: Every so often changes are made, but the Free Search is still available... Try http://www.coinarchives.com Click on 2nd Archives link. Place a search for Cartwheel in the second search window Place a search for Cartwheel Effect to discover more and newer coins Hope this helps... if not, let me know and I'll find some other way to help...:hug: Clinker
