I've been going to ask this question here for awhile, now after reading the thread on all the rejected coin submissions I'm finally going to ask. I have a very hard time telling if a coin has been cleaned. I've been looking through some junk silver recently and all of the dimes in a dish were a bleached white color so I'm sure they were cleaned. On the other hand I have several silver coins that I know were cleaned, only because 30 years ago I took a toothbrush and baking soda to them. If I hadn't cleaned them I would not pick them out as being cleaned. I've looked at them at 10X and 30X magnification and don't see any lines or swirls, and most of them have normal looking color and/or toning..at least to me. Are there any good books or videos that can teach someone to spot cleaned coins while your sitting in a shop or looking at pictures on the net? Any good web sites on the subject?
the ana library also may contain a detecting AT coins video. it is covered some in the detecting counterfeit and altered coin course. also check this forum and a couple others...hit the search on artificial toning.there is a thread on pcgs forum site that contains a lot of info despite the other banter.
Hello, It's just not possible to say, for sure, what all has happened to coin during it's existance. There are different methods of cleaning, some leave identifying marks, and some don't. Some cleaning is so light, that it can't be detected immediately afterwords. Some cleaning is so harsh, that it can be detected centuries later. The best advice I can give, to someone who wants to know how to identify a cleaned coin, is to get some coins, and clean them. You can get most old, tarnished and dirty coins, from pocket change. You can purchase junk silver, and foreign silver coins for little over melt. If possible, take pictures of before, and after, that way you will have a reference. Try as many different methods as you can imagine. Personally, I can listen to all the well-intentioned advice in the world, but unless I see something for myself, I don't really "know" it as a fact. Good luck!
I could be wrong. but a cleaning agent very often is abrasive. so a coin will often look cloudy from harsh rubbing. of course more sophisticated coin cleaners try to dip their coins. What I did read on this web-site in another message thread is the dips do NOT always work well. Some dips leave residue that is undetected at first, but then the "dry" coin starts developing spots. The grading companies will indicate on the label in the slab if a coin has been cleaned, in their opinion. the MS grades will show a nice smooth shiny polished surface on the flat layers around the relief. if you do not have those shiny polished appearances, its a cleaned coin. whether its actually been cleaned or not, is it really important? does a cleaned coin grade less than a circulated coin that would show the same appearance from circulation? somebody else answer that for me? now i dont know if gold coins are often cleaned. But what im seeing with gold coins, is the grading companies allow a lot more wear on gold coins, than a morgan dollar for example. It could be because the gold is a softer metal and prone to larger nicks and scratches.
OK. I'll give it a shot. Here goes... First, I would refere you to my earlier post. That should make it clear as to how to identify a cleaned coin. As far as "grading companies" go, most of the top money makers state that they will not slab harshly cleaned coins. I believe all of them have slabbed cleaned coins, and given no indication on the label of such condition. As far as "grading" goes, I was always taught to grade a circulated coin, based on the amount wear it had received. Uncirculated coins are graded on their sharpness of strike, brilliance, lack of post-mint scars, and eye appeal. Hope that helps.
another thing that may help is to go to sites that sell anacs detailed doins....lots of coins to look at that have been cleaned. look also at photos of obviously cleaned coins so that you can become accustomed to seeing blatant telltale signs..whizzing.ect. the more you see, the more comfortable you'll become. i personally, try to avoid any cleaned coin. however, since i collect morgans, i probably have at least one or more that could have been dipped 80 yrs ago or sooner. on copper coins, the early american collectors used to post cleaning tips in the collector journals. cleaning didn't seem to have the same stigma as now. when the economite treasure was found in 1878, they set about scrubbing and removing tarnish from the coins. some early pieces (1797 dollars ,halves and such) were even subjected to it before someone evidently realized the value of what was there. sorry, a little off tangent but just stating, a lot of cleaning has been done over the years. certainly can't catch it all, but can develop an eye for things that just don't look right.
Just a note... The only slab I have ever bought was an ANACS. The coin was a 1932-S silver quarter. It was graded correctly as a VF. The only problem was, it had been cleaned/bleached so much that it almost looked like a new coin. There was, of course, no mention of this on the slab's label. The seller, and I agreed on a fair price for the coin, irregardless of the slab.
Detecting a cleaned coin can be one of the hardest things there is to learn, sometimes it is very obvious and other times it is not obvious at all. But that's because there so very many different ways to clean a coin and so very many different degrees of cleaning. To be quite honest, I would have to say that this is not something that can be learned from a book, it has to be learned by experience.
