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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 97935, member: 112&quot;]Thanks for the compliments&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> But there&#039;s a bit more to it than that. That is just one way of recognizing a cleaned coin. And it can be confusing as well. For many times a person can look at a coin and see the darkness around the protected areas and not in the fields - and wrongly assume the coin has been cleaned. </p><p><br /></p><p>In a way it depends on the coin itself - how big it is. Small coins have less surface area in the fields and the fields are more protected because the higher points of the devices are closer together. This means the fields are less likely to be touched or rubbed by casual contact. Therefore more dirt may remain on the fields.</p><p><br /></p><p>But with larger coins, like a half or a dollar - the distance between one device and next is much larger and the fields are more likely to come into contact with other objects during circulation. This means there will be less dirt on the fields because it is rubbed off to a degree by casual conatct. And then of course you have to take into account the coin&#039;s design, how busy it is or how plain - this can have a strong bearing on how much dirt remains too.</p><p><br /></p><p>So if you look at circulated coin and are uncertain as to whether it may have been cleaned or not based on the dirt - then you have to look for other things. For example - you look for fine hairline scratches that are symmetrical over the surface of the coin or even just one particular area. These scratches will rarely appear on a coin from circulation because the circulation itself wears these fine scratches down smooth - and they are not visible. But with a coin taken from circulation that has been cleaned - the scratches remain because there is nothing to wear them off any longer.</p><p><br /></p><p>And you have to consider just how circulated the coin is. For even a coin in circulation will retain a certain amount of its luster - if it&#039;s not too circulated. It might show some dirt in the protected areas and yet still be AU or XF - and have a large proportion of its luster intact - even under the dirt. </p><p><br /></p><p>So you see, there is much to consider when trying to recognize a cleaned coin by sight. And I haven&#039;t even covered it all.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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