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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 1152818, member: 112&quot;]It&#039;s not as simple as it sounds. On some coins all of those things you mentioned are true, on others all of those things are not true. But yet both have been harshly cleaned.</p><p><br /></p><p>That&#039;s the problem with learning how to recognize harshly cleaned coins - there are no hard and fast rules. Sometimes rules apply and sometimes they don&#039;t. So what you see on one coin that indicates it has been harshly cleaned, on another coin the very same thing will indicate it was not harshly cleaned.</p><p><br /></p><p>Confused yet ? Most people are. Learning to correctly and consistently identify harshly cleaned coins is one of the more difficult things there is to learn. In simple terms it requires experience, and a good deal of it simply because there are so many variables.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fine hairlines or light scratches all over the surface may indicate that a coin was harshly cleaned. Or - it may merely indicate that the coin was roughly handled at some point in it&#039;s life. Or - those fine lines may just from album slide marks.</p><p><br /></p><p>Dirt or grime in the recesses, but yet none on the high points and in the fields may indicate the coin was harshly cleaned. Or - it may indicate that the coin merely a circulated coin because normal circulation tends to wear off the dirt and grime from the high points and fields and leave the dirt and grime in the recesses and protected areas.</p><p><br /></p><p>A lack of luster on a coin with light wear might mean that coin was harshly cleaned. Or - a lack of luster on a coin with light wear might that the coin suffered from a weak strike and therefore it had little luster to begin with. Or - a lack of luster on a coin with light wear might mean that the coin merely suffered an unusual wear pattern.</p><p><br /></p><p>Same thing goes for color, a lack of color or a different shade of color can have many different causes.</p><p><br /></p><p>Beginning to see the problem ? Pretty much any diagnostic you can think of can have many different causes. And while some of them may indicate harsh cleaning, they may not as well. I could write an entire book explaining all of the possible variations and what each means or doesn&#039;t mean - and still not cover it all. It&#039;s too complicated to explain with words. It requires sitting down with somebody who knows all of this and having them point it out on each individual coin because every single coin there is is unique. And only with extensive experience can you even begin to grasp all of the nuances. And just when you think have - you&#039;ll learn that you have not.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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