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Message:: [QUOTE="eddiespin, post: 24881622, member: 4920"]That's how an amateur conceives of "uncirculated," paisan, they conceive of it as literally meaning the coin never circulated. Were that the case, who gives a ship? We give a ship because we want the best condition, and "uncirculated" is the term ANA came up with, all on its own, to denote the coins showing circulation wear, or, a lesser state of preservation. And don't look at us, we're just stuck with the term. All to say, "uncirculated" is what's referred to as a "term of art," simply denoting the absence of circulation wear on the face of the coin. That's it. And on cleaning, it's like looking at a piece of glass, for a diamond. Cleaning disturbs the delicate mint flow lines, which give the coin luster, bounce, sparkle, life, call it what you will. It wrecks that and makes it look as dead as a piece of cardboard. You want that hunk of metal, go for it, nobody is telling you your business. Collectors don't want it, and that's not without reason. We collect coins, we don't collect cardboard. That's all.[/QUOTE]