I Just Cleaned My Circ. Pennies. Did I Make A Mistake?

A glimpse from the inside of that dark hobby by a CoinTalk informant...

Don't worry, @Oldhoopster, we'll will fix you up with a new identity, they'll never catch up with you...

 

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No need... I already understand the hazards of cleaning coins and why one should never, ever, ( ever ) do it.

So why in the heck did I do it then, you may rightly be asking?

Well, like i said ( and you seem to agree ) I never thought this set of coins would be worth diddly anyway, and they probably won't. Secondly, I'm not in the hobby to make a profit ( no judgment to those who are, it's just not what draws me ). I have an old, 1826 Large Cent thats barely legible. I wouldn't sell that thing for $100, never mind that it's probably not worth $20. What draws me is the history that you hold in your hands when you hold a coin, particularly an old one, thinking about all the hands and pockets its been in and all the different people who possesed it before me, all the significant histirical events that it's been around for, what was going on in the world when it was made, etc. etc Abraham Lincoln might well have once held that large cent that I have, or may have tossed it in to a drawer in the Resolute Desk at the end of a long day of saving the Union ( prove he didn't, haha )

That, to me, is where the real value of a coin comes from. Thats why i have little to no interest in uncirc, proof, and specialty coins. Many of them are cool in their own right but just don't have the same kind of history.

So, yes, i regret cleaning those coins, but honestly its not that big of a deal to me, whereas it might be to someone else.

I wouldn't do it again if i could rewind time though, nor will i ever clean ANY coin in the future, because what this experience has made me realize is that all that dirt and grime and tone on a coin, is a part of the history that i value.

 

Thank you Oldhoopster. Solid advice. Yes, the ancients are a whole new world of coins just begging me to open that door. Perhaps I will leave it ajar at this time and live with just a peek as my budget prohibits a lot of the relevant purchases. Maybe one at a time spaced far apart but I am having lots of fun with the U.S. and world coinage right now. Many thanks!!

 

With this attitude--which most of us into ancients share--you'd love ancient coin collecting.

For less than a slabbed Morgan dollar, you could hold something like this in your hand--yes, hold it in your hand and feel its weight and texture. Imagine how it was used in commerce, passing through the hands of shop-keepers, slaves, soldiers, gladiators, prostitutes, aristocrats and priests. It bought things like wine, olive-oil, bread, sandals, a good time at a brothel, admission to the colosseum, fish, cloth and offerings to pagan gods in temples.

 

Keep the folder and replace each coin as you find a nice uncleaned cent. Make a note of when you started replacing the cents and when you finish. If you ever
again think of abrasively cleaning coins pull out that folder and look at those
dates. As to it being "worthless" new varieties are discovered all the time and
people with filled folders check them first to see if they already have it.
If my memory is right the 1914/3 buffalo nickels were discovered less than five years ago. The 1969-s DDO was discovered less than two years ago. When I say discovered I should properly say reported. People who discover things like that check as many BU roils as they can looking for more. Only then do they put the word out to the street so that others can find them. If you don't believe me look how often Ken Potter reports a new discovery one month then has it in multiple grades for sale the next month. Flip through old copies of Numismatic News or Coin World.

 

I would be way in to ancients, but i think i've always shied away from them because of the potential for forgeries.

I don't know much about ancients, but I would think they'd be a lot easier to fake and sell to someone with an untrained eye like mine.

 

Good point...

 

Wayne Sayles wrote a great 6 volume series on Ancients. I would STRONGLY recommend reading a few of them if you are interested in ancients but don't know where to start. I think you can get them for around $20 each and only need to read the volumes that interest you (but you'll probably want to read them all). Look them up on Amazon or Wayne's VCoins site.

I've also seen these in public libraries, so you may want to check there as well.

 

As @lordmarcovan said, your lesson cost you less than a good loaf of bread. But, for future reference, if you find a 1909 S VDB "Wheatie" laying around, PLEASE, DO NOT CLEAN IT! Welcome to CT.

 

You are not more likely to be burned with ancients than you are with Morgan Dollars, Peace Dollars, Bust Dollars, etc. Basically, with both you have to do your homework and buy from respectable dealers and auction houses, and avoid FleaBay and Craigs List.

So far I'm in 150 ancients into the hole, and I've only been burned twice (and was promtly refunded both times as I bought from reliable dealers with a lifetime guarantee who were happy to get a hold of me and refund me my money when it was discovered. )

 

How'd you end up discovering you'd been burned...?

 

On one I caught myself with the use of a microscope by examining the edge and a little bump on the coin which first made me suspicious. The dealer sent the pictures to another dealer who said he found it suspicious too, so I got a refund and an apology. The dealer is a very respected dealer, but he had an off day with that coin. No one is perfect, and I do trust the guy despite that one mishap.

I got suspicious because of my experience handling coins. Once you've seen a hundred real ones and seen a hundred pictures of fakes, and held some yourself, you really start to get a feel for it.

The second coin slipped past a dealer, but another dealer caught the mistake soon after when I showed him an image, and a phone call later I had a refund and I got to keep the fake for my own study purposes.