cleaning a coin

calleocho

hello

i am from the sports card forums and honestly dont know much about coins at all...so i was wondering if you guys could help me out with a few questions

im trying to put together a few sets just for fun , pennies and half dollars. i bought the books where i put the coins

with cards any kind of alterations pretty much kills the value of a card from a 1000 to less than a 100 easily.

is it like that with coins?

i shine them up with a cloth and some petroluem base wipe that comes in a metal can with an old house on it ..i bought it at the marina shop.

is this bad?

i have no interest in any fanancial gain from these coins ..its purely for fun since its so cheap to begin with...i just want to know if it is considered OK or if it makes them altered in some way....

these coins aren't in good shape anyways

also when it comes to graded cards there are "investment grades" 10, 9, and 8 and then anything below that is considered "collector" grades.

a lot of the prices depend on scarcity and age of course but mainly condition.

so a PSA 7 NM cards is a clean card for the most part that that shows some imperfections but quite honestly only somebody in the hobby would be able to tell the difference between a 7 and a 9 but the price is quite different many times it could as much as a 20X

do coins have some grade like that.?

coins that look decent enough for enjoyment , are original and authentic without any alterations but that sell to a discount compared to their higher grade counterparts?

thanks a lot!

coppercoins

Yes, polishing coins does destroy their value. They are henceforth worth a very tiny fraction of their unmolested value, even if in "collector grade" to begin with. Once polished, for most coins in the 20th century you would be lucky to get much over face or melt for them.

Scarcity, age, and more so, condition also drive the coin market.

Coins do have grades as well, which range from 1-70 with 70 being perfect. Grading coins is much more difficult and takes quite a bit more time to learn than grading cards.

calleocho

is ms65 a good looking coin that is affordable for the casual collector?

also could you guys provide a list of the top 3 grading co.

thanks a lot guys

Sequitur

a list of the top 3 grading co.

In my opinion, PCGS is the best, hands down.

If I can look at a coin before I buy, I may purchase from another grading company. But in an online auction like Fleebay? PCGS is the only thing I'll bid on. Also, there are some to be avoided at all cost. If you see the name Numistrust in an auction or on a slab label, abandon ship.


is ms65 a good looking coin that is affordable for the casual collector?

Like baseball cards, it depends. As I recall, cards grade on a 1-10 scale, right? Well if you've got a rookie Mantle that grades 8, you're estatic. But a 2003 card at 8 isn't too desireable, I would imagine. In my opinion, this example is roughly analogous to coins. If you're collecting scarce or old coins, MS65s could be top of the line or cost a fortune -- literally. For recent issues, generally speaking MS65s may look nice, and most certainly would be afforable, but you might try and shoot a little higher for a good collection. Guess it depends on what you mean by "casual."

Click here for a quick reference concerning grades.

CapAnson

I collected Sports cards for over 20 years myself, and frankly I got out of it and into coins for a number of reasons including the predominance of PSA graded cards.. But oh well that's another story. I've found coins to be much more rewarding, more challenging, and more historical. The average collector of cards could only dream about obtaining a nice Allen and Ginter card in even ex condidtion, but there are many coins as old or older that can be had in pristine condition for a tiny fraction of the price. Ok..

1. You don't want to put anything on your coins that came from a marina.. petol cleaners, water, fish heads, bait, anything... In fact cleaning coins in any manner is taboo except for certain specific cases, and only if you know what you're doing. But if you did this with common recent date coins no real harm done. Never "Shine up" a coin. Think of it this way, would you take the eraser of a pencil, and start rubbing out that small pencil signature on your 54 Bowman Mantle?

2. Yes in higher grades a minute change in the difference of quality can vastly affect the price, the difference being with coins you'll never find a PSA-10 or equivalent. Perfect coins really don't exist. An exception might be modern proof coins but even here PF-70s are unusual.

3. There isn't really any difference between mint state coins and circulated as far as investment vs. collectible grades go. There are certain issues that are disireable to have in Mint state, like Morgan dollars.. you aren't going to have a happy retirement if you put your money in circulated morgans. But even here there is an exception as some dates for Morgans are quite scarce and valuable. Also Common Date gold is collected in lower grade mint states as "investment grade". But pretty much anything that is a nice desireable coin, and valuable enough to be worth the time can be considered an investment.

4. You're not going to be able to collect every coin made in mint state. Some coins/years mint state examples don't exist. So there's nothing wrong with collecting some sets in XF or VF condition.. In fact it's a must with some issues.. and two more differences between coins and cards: With coins sometimes a slight amount of wear will make a coin AU-"About Uncirculated" whereas another coin might have no wear, and merit a higher grade, say MS61, but have weak strike, poor luster, some dings that make it a less desireable coin even though it's priced higher (sometimes much higher). This rarely if ever happens with cards. Another difference is With cards a PSA 5,4 or less is Generally considered to be a "dog" and few people want to collect them unless it's to fill out a hole in their set or whatever. With Coins an equivalent grade to that of Fine or Very Fine is often quite collectible and desireable depending on the issue.

That's just my perspective as a former Baseball Card collecter..

calleocho

that was really helpful guys ...thanks a lot

XpipedreamR

I find a good scrubbing with steel wool can give a coin a great shine. It needs to be done by a real expert, though

Shamika

He's only kidding!!!

nepbrs44

<< <i>I find a good scrubbing with steel wool can give a coin a great shine. It needs to be done by a real expert, though >>



You are killing me!!!