Cleaned coins
Cash4coins84
Posts: 19 ✭
in Q & A Forum
If a coin is clean but retains it's cartwheel n has no hairlines is it still valuable?
0
Answers
Virtual all coins retain value, whether they are cleaned or not. However, a cleaned coin will rarely, if ever, retain cartwheel luster and have no hairlines. The process of cleaning either introduces hairlines or other surface abrasions or it greatly reduces and alters cartwheel luster.
If you are not certain what you are looking at then it can be easy to mistake a harshly cleaned coin for a coin with original cartwheel luster, but once you understand what happens to the surfaces it becomes much easier to spot altered coins.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson