Post a straight grade gold coin that's been "wiped."
topstuf
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For educational purposes. Doesn't have to be one you own. 
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topstuf
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Please define "wiped". I think of a coin being lightly polished with a soft cloth when I hear this term. Unfortunately, a light polish usually doesn't show up in a pic.
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"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
I first heard the term "wiped" while working for ATS. it was probably adopted by coin dealers - many former dealers work at TPGS's. I don't know if PCGS graders use the word.
IMHO it was a VERY STUPID and uninformed adoption of an ambiguous word to describe a simple "wheel mark" - the term we used to describe this characteristic back in the 1970's. IMO, a "wipe" is better associated with the use of a cloth to apply a chemical across a coins surface leaving streaks or any such movement.
The mark (LOL, "wipe") looks like a shiny, buffed, patch of hairlines. They are principally caused when a coin gets stuck under a rotating, rubber wheel in a counting machine. Any type of rotating wheel can cause them if it digs into the surface while being used; but the main ones often have a trace of black residue at one end until they are cleaned. Wheel Marks can be very dificult to see UNTIL the coin is tipped and rotated into the exact position to bring them out.
Before "details" grading they knocked a coins grade down. Today if they are detected the coin is usually detailed. I have a blazing gem WLH in an old rattler slab with a wheel mark on the reverse. The coin is only graded MS-64. These marks are very hard to photograph becaus the coin must be held at a steep angle.
PS I have NEVER seen a gold coin with an actual wheel mark. I have seen them with chemical wipes or areas where a buffing wheel left a patch. They also commonly are seen with continuous hairlins. When tipped at an angle the entire coin "flashes."
Not the best pictures in the world but prior to submission to our host in 2014 I asked a well respected US gold coin dealer for their opinion on this coin (along with several others). Their opinion was XF45 wiped. The coin came back in a straight graded XF45 slab.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
That's what I was looking for. An overall "wiping" or very light rubbing with a cloth or something that gives it a "sheen" that's a tad different from normal circ wear.
To me "wiped" means that the coin has been gone over with a cloth, brush or some other sort of a device. The goal was to make the brighter or shinier. As one poster stated, it’s hard to photograph this because the telltale signs are usually light hairlines, especially if the coin got a straight grade.
Here is a piece that got an MS-61 grade. There are hairlines, especially in the left obverse field.
Brighter pictures
I got caught on this one because the auction house photos were over exposed, which "burned off" all of the hairlines in the picture.
This is why you have to approach the situation with care when you seen photos like this.
I am not planning to order any more coins from places that use scans for images.
There are a VERY few that use fairly realistic scans that I can "translate" but damn few.
There’s a lot to be said about not buying an expensive gold coin at an auction without being able to first look at it yourself or having someone look at it for you.
agree. and if you cant have someone look at an expensive gold coin, that is when CAC is helpful. Yes, they cost more but buying an over graded poor coin is ultimately more expensive.
This last transaction is definitely going to drive me to the CAC camp for a lot of stuff.
Reluctantly, but deficient images are becoming too common.
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I've posted this before, but here it is again. This coin looks like it is an exceptionally nice $10 Indian.
It lives in an MS62 holder (with a green CAC sticker). Why so low? If you look at it just perfectly, you'll see the following:
It's actually rather difficult to show this in a photograph without positioning the lighting perfectly. A parallel patch of hairlines is trivially easy to hide in a photo.
As for the term "wipe" having anything to do with a wheel mark - I've not heard it used that way before, but I guess it's possible.
As for the appropriateness of the grade, I'd be happy to buy coins with this look at MS62 prices any day of the week.
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Sorry to disagree with the experts you consulted. This coin is BUFFED. Note the rounded relief. Now at the base of the shield you'll see a different color. The buffing wheel may have dug too deeply causing what looks like a WHEEL MARK in that area. If that is the case, many will (unfortunately) call it a wipe although the entire coin has been ruined.
Rubbing a cloth on a coin - unless done for several weeks in the same spot - will not produce a wheel mark! It probably will hairline a coin but they can happen naturally. A long time ago, I believed that every coin with hairlines was improperly cleaned. Since then, I've learned that is not true.
I've always understood "wiped" to mean lightly wiped with a jeweler's cloth to brighten the coin up a little. I've also understood wipe to be synonymous with "rouge".
I don't have a wiped gold coin, but I have a wiped Pilgrim half. The coin looks amazing, like MS 67+, but it kept coming back either "cleaned" or MS 64 from PCGS. It now resides in a P64 CAC holder, where it will stay.
I don't have a photo that shows the wipe, it's very tricky to capture. The effect is very much like the 1907 $10 above. Stunning from most angles.
The ANA Grading guide allows a coin with continuous hairlines (as seen on this Indian) to still be straight graded
MS-61. The term "wipe" was applied to coins with a patch of hairlines that almost made the surface close to mirror-like. This coin does not qualify.
I've heard many people use the term wiped however I have never heard it used to describe a wheel mark.
Me neither. "Wheel marks" are what I saw a lot of during the 1980 madness for bullion.
Coin counters use rubber wheels to snag coins into the chute.
Interesting observation. Thanks for your opinion. What you are seeing could be partly due to my so-so picture taking abilities. The reverse wear below the shield doesn't look at lot different than most of the XF45s on CoinFacts to me but I'm by now means a expert. If I ever get to the bank I'll have to try for better shots in the slab. I guess that's why they say grading is subjective.
it's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide
I first herd the term used by ex-dealers at NGC.
I've photographed an image of a wheel mark and will post it when I return from the FUN show.
“Wipe” and “wheelmark” are not used interchangeably by PCGS or NGC.
Source: NGC & PCGS graders.
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All of my collection is in a safe deposit box!
I used to own this coin. The brightness of the high points gave me the impression that it was wiped off with a non abrasive cloth at some point. It had a glossy shiny appearance in certain lighting. One dealer suggested it could have been polished, but others disagreed. PCGS VF20. Thoughts on whether it was wiped or cleaned?
I'm glad to hear that the guys I once worked with at NGC where I FIRST HEARD THE TERM "Wipe" USED have separated the two.
Now, perhaps you can contact the PCGS and NGC graders you spoke with and ask them to define the term "wipe" for all of us. Thanks in advance!
This coin is "improperly cleaned." It is dull. IMO, it does not have a glossy look at all. Also IMO, it will not look glossy in any light.
The top images are called "wheel marks" Often times they can only be seen when the coin is in a particular position in the light. These are the marks that AT ONE TIME AT LEAST one ATS former finalizer called "wipes."
The two bottom images are called "wheel damage." Folks believe they were caused by the coin roll crimper machine.
I'll post an image of a coin that has been actually wiped with a rag leaving a chemical smear.
I wish I had a good representative photo, but the devices looked a little too clean, smooth and shiny under certain lighting. I call it glossy, but maybe that isn’t the right word. These two photos below kind of show what I’m referring to. On a related note, what indicators are you looking at that lead you to conclude the coin was improperly cleaned/do you have a hypothesis for how it may have been cleaned?
Never mind...it's not gold.
COLOR
So what do you think was done to improperly clean it? Why would that method of cleaning be deemed “improper” as opposed to dipping? Just trying to learn what to look out for.
A top TPGS has straight graded your coin. That is all that is important. That indicates you have a well circulated coin that was PROBABLY cleaned in the past (as most old coins are) leaving no obvious hairlines in the image. However, its multi-color gold tones (NOT THE BROWN in protected areas leaving a "halo effect") is what I base my opinion on.
Note Without the coin in hand, my opinion and $6 will get you a cup of coffee.