I did not see that coming...

That is a harsh indictment on a perfectly nice and attractive coin.

And, a reflection to myself: isn't it a pity that many people's enjoyment of this hobby is so much determined by somebody else's opinion of our coins?
Whatever happened to buy the coin, not the holder.

 

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Nice coin great for a 7070

 

Yeah, that was a bit harsh. As already mentioned there are much worse examples straight graded and if you add large copper into that group, well......

 

I started to do a guess the grade on this coin, figuring that 95% of folks would not guess "cleaned." Honestly I pride myself on being able to grade like PCGS these days, which is why this was a shock. A couple years ago, I just assumed some of my submissions would come back problem coins, but I got tired of wasting my money, so I buckled down and learned to think and grade like they do. Still not there yet, but one thing is for certain... Namely: I waste less money on submissions. And that's always a good thing.

 

There’s a guy at my coin club that is very proud of his collection. Every time he talks about it, he identifies the coin, then describes the holder and stickers in vicarious detail, and then mentions if it is toned or not. Very little thought is given to the coin itself (accurate grade, strike, surface originality, etc.). I wonder if that is the mindset of most slab collectors.

I’d bet good money that this is the result of Morgan dollars. Millions are out there slabbed, and thousands of collectors start with Morgans because “that is what everyone else colects”. Certified is all the rage, and they don’t kniw how to grade, so they go with certified coins. They almost all look the same in each grade category (though some are high and low for the grade), so they can blindly trust the number on the label and never learn to match the coin to the grade. The only way to compare Morgan collections is that little number on the label and the presence of toning, so those points become the focus of any purchase instead of the coin. This mindset then extrapolates as the collectors expand to other areas. I hate Morgans.

One time, I was at a show, and I had an IGC AU-55 bust half I wanted opinions on. I covered up the grade to prevent any bias. One dealer noted that because I covered up the grade, I must have been unhappy with it because it was cleaned. I told him it graded AU-55. Then he said, “Oh, then it is a nice coin.”

 

I know how you feel. That happened to me very recently. I was expecting at least a 58 on my 1830 half dollar, and it came back cleaned AU details.

 

it has to be a higher grade than au.

 

@C-B-D Whenever you have a minor setback like this just remember all the times you knocked it out of the park.

 

Damn. Only looks half cleaned. Tell me what you were thinking at first look

 

I agree. Nice assessment.

 

Maybe send it to ANACS, then to PCGS for cross-over.

 

You tricketer. Yeah we all love Furryfrog.

 

Looks like they only cleaned the top part

 

This is exactly my take. Far too many bust halves out there with more egregious cleanings that have been given a straight grade.

 

While this is often the case, I believe the halo effect you are seeing on this coin is due to its circulation. The open fields are going to experience wear more quickly, and the protected areas will retain their luster for longer.

I think with those pictures, most people would not have picked up on the cleaning. Can you show us some alternate views that more readily highlight the cleaning? I think what PCGS saw was a series of hairlines in the field in front of Liberty's face, and under the bust around the date. I'll agree, however, that I've seen much worse straight graded (whether that is right or wrong is a debate for another day).