Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 785277, member: 112&quot;]Learning how to detect harshly cleaned coins or coins with altered surfaces is one of the hardest things there is to learn. And to my knowledge, no, there is no book on the subject.</p><p><br /></p><p>I guess the reason there is no book on the subject is because it is something that you have to learn by looking at physical coins in hand - not by looking at pictures. I can take hundreds of pictures of harshly cleaned coins, post them, and not one of them would be identified as having been harshly cleaned. </p><p><br /></p><p>And it would not be because the pictures were altered or messed with. You can make pictures show or not show whatever you want just by changing the lighting a bit, changing the angle, changing camera settings. Pictures are very deceptive.</p><p><br /></p><p>To truly learn you have to do it in person.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now we have discussed this a hundred times and there are several things to look for. But it always depends on the coins as to exactly what you look for. Different denominations have different characteristics. Different degrees of wear have different charcateristics. And sometimes some of those characteristics can be the same for harsh cleaning as they are for some kinds of wear patterns.</p><p><br /></p><p>Do you begin to see the problem ? </p><p><br /></p><p>But there is a way out, if you do not want to buy harshly cleaned coins then don&#039;t buy raw coins. Only buy coins that are already slabbed by NGC or PCGS and you won&#039;t have to worry about it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now you&#039;re probably gonna say something like -&nbsp; but slabbed coins are too expensive ? Well, are they really ? How many raw coins do you have to buy only to have a TPG tell you later that they are cleaned before you begin to realize how much money you are losing ? All of that lost money could go towards buying coins that are already slabbed. In the end - it&#039;s cheaper that way.</p><p><br /></p><p>Now I am not saying this in an effort to disuade you from learning how to recognize harshly celaned coins on your own - far from it. By all means learn how. But you need to find somebody that already knows how and have them teach you face to face. And in the meantime only buy slabbed coins. Once you learn - then you can buy raw coins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in