Looks nice but there must be something wrong after all these years. Definitely looks legit! Help me out here, what ya' think? https://www.ebay.com/itm/334384136888
I don't know about polishing, but it's beautiful. Reputable seller (it appears) and they note that it is cleaned.
I hate cleaned, there's so many variations but cleaned is cleaned. The only thing worse to me, is polished, bent or whizzed!
For Sure it has been dipped. There is no way that you would have a "White" coin from 196 years ago. Silver is a very reactive metal. As others have said, the coin also has been cleaned. This is a circulated coin as you can see the wear on the high points, I'll give it an AU50 grade to start, but the coin is missing Luster in the fields so that drops it to about net EF 40.
The cleaning made the coin look fake. No life in the coin, but I see it sold for $176.50, so someone liked it.
EBay said it sold for $176.00. Not a bad price but a lot more than what I would pay. If I owned it and if it's not covered in hair lines, it could easily be toned down. It would take about a year or more, but it would look better. Set it on a shelf and flip it over once a month and over time it will slowly tone. When it darkens to your liking put it in a 2 x 2. It will likely never look natural, but it would better. I would avoid a coin like that, but it can be helped.
@fretboard Yes that coin has been cleaned. Even with coining using a Screw Press there would be mint luster in the fields of a circulated coin--without heavy toning--let alone a near uncirculated coin. For comparison purposes the below photos are of a Bust Half that I sold through GC in 2016; NOTE that even though it is toned overall and has multi-color peripheral toning, it had been cleaned a long time ago, which was apparent to the graders at PCGS: Here's another one with toning from the same auction that was graded AU-58, but you can see the differentiation in the fields and around the devices where original mint luster is still present vs. the 1827:
The OP coin has an extremely unnatural look that is very hard to sell in the current market. What’s been done to it is way over the top. Getting EF money for it would be tough. Most collectors will prefer the straight graded EF. A coin doctor could fix it to a degree with a little toning, but it won’t help much.
when I first started collecting, I bought some seated and bust type coins raw on eBay, nearly all of them white/cleaned/dipped/polished; out of curiosity I wrapped some of them in brown paper and put them in a cardboard box for about 10 years. some of them toned nicely and some toned ugly. All of them have an unnatural reflectivity under the toning. You can't reproduce original skin. The coin in the op has been completely and relentlessly stripped; it's like a burn victim in need of a total body skin graft. This is kinda the look that I prefer..
