Could I get your experienced opinion please? 1834 Bust Dime by Vet4Coins posted Dec 21, 2024 at 11:56 AM 1834 Bust Dime by Vet4Coins posted Dec 21, 2024 at 11:56 AM
I would say yes but it was some time ago. It has retoned but the darkness around the stars gives me the answer to your question.
You’re welcome but wait for others to give their opinions. I’ve been doing this for a long time but I do not consider myself to be an expert.
What is the checklist or "tells" to tell if a coin -- let's say gold coins (since they're softer) -- has been cleaned ? What do I look for ?
Well, that is a difficult question with many answers. For the most part, silver, gold and copper will have similar rules. I suppose if I were to write a list, it would look something like this: - Hairlines. First and most obvious. A large number of lines moving in a straight direction across all devices. Often only shows up at one or two angles, because the brushing motion is uniform. Die polish goes under devices, hairlines from polishing goes over devices. - Clean fields and gunky devices. You can see that in the coin posted: whatever cleaning agent couldn't get into the tight spaces in the stars, but stripped the open fields. - Unusual surface texture. Either too smooth (some sort of polish) or too rough (whizzing or some other mechanical cleaning). - Unusual colors. A pale white coin with a bit of light brown or orangey toning instantly says cleaned. Speckled or mottled brown toning also often says cleaned. A bright pink copper or a pale white gold might mean the same. - An old circulated coin like this that doesn't have dark grey fields with lighter high points attracts attention (you may have heard the term circulated cameo). There are plenty of exceptions to every rule, so this one is a last resort.
