Just what is "Whizzing"? -- Updated

tjkillian

Some folks might wonder what a whizzed coin looks like. Here are a couple of pictures to show. Also, there are links to some VERY large pictures to give even a better view. Comments are appreciated. I paid just at a half dollar under face value for it, so I was not ripped at all.

Tom




Picture 1 1.36MB
Picture 2 1.29MB

agfox

Careful with that title around the bear... I hear he has a bladder problem.


Editted to add: On a more serious note, thanks for those fantastic blow ups

Lakesammman

It's a state quarter variety, isn't it??

sinin1

Sometimes I get confused with the math -

"I paid just at a half dollar under face value for it"

Let's see, a fifty cent piece, paid a half dollar under face -> does that guy have any more he wants to give away?

jeffnpcb

What's worse is sending one to PCGS, having it returned as being cleaned or whizzed!
Apparantly they can't tell the difference!
Please forward pictures to the grading room at PCGS for future reference!

WACoinGuy

Interesting -- that definitely helps. So, what I see is that the coin has a lot of long, dense hairline scratches. Is that the tell-tale sign of a whizzed coin?

fcloud

Someone did WHAT??

robertpr

Tom, I think you're confused. I see a picture of a walking Liberty on that coin, not a Minuteman.

toyonakataro

Thank you for the large pic. That helps a lot.
I once had a Bust doller whitch had the same surface as yours.....and I paid more than face value

crito

There's a word that has changed meaning since I've been collecting. If you sent that coin to ANACS, they might even label it "tooled". Today, it seems ,"whizzing" means a harsh cleaning with a wire brush. I understand it to be a process by which the surfaces get "ironed out", not "scratched up"... usually with ball bearings attached to a rotary tool.

dorkkarl

don't they whiz coins to get the putty off?

K S

paigowjohnny

One of the other things they tell you to look for is a little build up of metal around the letters/other raised devices...as a small layer of metal gets melted from the friction of the whizzing and gets pushed along until it catches something, like a raised device. Look around the "In God..." and the T and Y in Liberty on the second blow up...hmmmm.....

paigowjohnny

If you took those pictures...great job. Pretty much a text book example. Those picturs ought to be in the ANA grading guide...

tjkillian

What I was hoping is that folks would chime in and describe what whizzing is. Whizzing is a mechanical process where someone uses a fine wire brush on a rotating wheel to attemp to simulate luster. Since luster is caused by metal flow lines, the whizzing causes simulated flow lines. In the striking of a coin, metals "flows" radially (from the center out toward the edge). The lines are straight in the normal minting process. In whizzing, the "flow lines" are curved, and that is what I was trying to show in the pictures. Also if you look really close, you can notice the dark toning INSIDE the crevices of the flower boquet Miss Liberty is carrying. Whizzing cannot get into the fine spaces and that is another place for a tell-tale sign of whizzing.

Tom