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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Tom B, post: 1988015, member: 11854&quot;]&quot;I have learned in my short time when one sees the halo of gunk around the lettering and other raised surfaces of the coin that it indicates a cleaning. Perhaps it is something I need to unlearn, but how else does that &quot;gunk&quot; accumulate in the protected areas?&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p>I think that is something you need to unlearn.&nbsp; Take some oil and dirt and slide the mixture across the surfaces of a coin.&nbsp; Where does the dirt accumulate?&nbsp; It accumulates the most in the protected areas of the coin.&nbsp; That is, within the stars, in the hollows of dates and letters and up around the portrait.&nbsp; These somewhat protected areas don&#039;t see the <i>most</i> dirt, but when they do see dirt they are less likely to release the dirt than more exposed areas.</p><p><br /></p><p>Certainly, there are examples of coins that have been cleaned and the cleaning has not taken away dirt from protected areas, but we need to examine the coin in its totality and analyze what the surfaces can teach us.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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