Help me see what NGC saw in this 1932-P Washington.

I bought a 1932-P Washington Quarter that NGC lists as UNC Details (Improperly Cleaned). For the life of me, I can't see anything that indicates brush strokes or something else suggesting such a thing. But I'm a novice at grading, so I assume I'm missing something.

I don't have a camera yet (seem to have lost my Canon somewhere), but for those of you who are registered at NGC, it's verified as 3228970-014. If the enlarged pic there isn't big enough, I'll try with my scanner.

http://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/CertResults.aspx?CertNumber=3228970-014

 

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My guess would be the luster (or lack of) on the obverse. A coin with that much detail should have a lot more luster. Hard to tell from those pictures but if I was a betting man I would bet that it's due to impaired surfaces. It might have been in an old Whitman album with the obverse exposed and might have been wiped a few times... this is commonly the reason why coins can have an impaired obverse and a blazing reverse.

 

Ah. Interesting. I'll try to put up a better closeup.

 

Apologies for these, from my scanner. Hope to have a camera again soon.
http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad282/68kennedyhalf/Coins/scan0034.jpg
http://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad282/68kennedyhalf/Coins/scan0035.jpg

 

I see. Thanks, Doug.

I still like the coin. It's the first silver Washington I've ever owned, so the sentimental value alone makes it fun to look at in my Air-Tite album.

 

Lack of luster stands out to me. NGC typically has nice pictures and it doesn't appear that the pics are hiding anything. Very nice coin otherwise and would make a great addition to anyones collection. The sentimental value as you said sometimes just out weights the numismatic value.

 

Meanwhile, how did I do on this 1934-P?

Thanks, Jaceravone.

Here is a Washington I picked up on eBay. How would you grade it? The seller has a lifetime return policy, so it seemed reasonable.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260544655537&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

 

Although, I have never bought anything from the consignmenthub, I have been looking at a few of their items lately. Remember in 1934 they had the Light, Heavy and Medium Mottos. That one looks like a Medium Motto, but could be wrong. Definitely not a heavy motto. The coin has no luster that I can see. Looks to be heavily dipped/cleaned. The seller lists the coin as "High Grade", but does not actually gives a grade which tells me that he/she has no idea of the actual grade of the coin. The coin is definitely not MS. I would grade this as XF details/cleaned. Remember the 34's were tricky because these were not great strikes, so what may come off as wear may actually be a weak strike. I am no expert in this area and have a tough time telling the difference between the two. I am sure someone else on here with more knowledge can enlighten us.

 

It's possible that it's due to the scans. But the entire obverse and reverse look unnatural/lifeless, So I would guess that the cleaning is over the entire coin and not just an isolated area.

 

Walk away from that 34

 

Agreed, that coin is a mess. Been polished it looks like.

 

I'd pass on the 34 too.

 

Oh no...okay. I'll return it, then. Thanks, guys.

 

If you couldn't tell that coin was cleaned, I would strongly suggest that you not buy uncertfied coins of value. It is far too perilous.

 

Yes it does, Look very dull! I think most will agree! It stayed in the souce
A little to long!

 

Oh well -- I suppose I had that coming. It was kind of an impulse buy at $14. I thought something might've been wrong with it, so I asked about it here. I got the info I needed, and can move forward.

Maybe I'll keep it as a pocket piece to remind myself about impulse buys, even small ones.