Opinions sought on these two old halves

BigGreek

These are not the best you've seen but they fit within my budget. The 1806 obverse looks like
it has been cleaned but all else looks original. How would you grade 'em?

abmluce

I love bust halves Both look cleaned, and the 21 is re-toning.

nankraut

VG cleaned; VF cleaned, IMHO. Both very acceptable coins. Most of these well-circulated older coins have been cleaned at one time or another.

BigGreek

How can you tell if it's been cleaned. To me the '21 looks pretty darn original?
Thanks for looking at them.

robertpr

Looks like crap to me. Send them to me and I'll replace them with a shiny new Kennedy.

Blackhawk

1806-F, 1821-XF40

ealandg

I think the 1806 looks cleaned, but like a VF20, so THERE!

Blackhawk

You may be right on the 1806 as a VF. The reverse is somewhat weak, but the hair detail on the obverse is VF. Anyone know the strike characteristics for this year and variety?

Myqqy

The 1821 looks like it has very splotchy toning, which seems to happen as lot (from my limited experience) with bust halves that have been cleaned and then have been left to retone. The retoning doesn't seem uniform enough like original toning.

lordmarcovan

"Not the best"?

They're damn sure not the worst, either! Lovely coins, both!

I would say F15 on the Draped half and EF40 to 45 on the Capped half. If told either was cleaned, my reply would have to be "so what?".

Varlis

I would say that both coins have been cleaned--but also that's not necessarily a big deal. If it were me, I would pass on the draped bust coin, and I might take the 1821, depending on the price. That the 1806 has been cleaned is clear; as far as the 1821 goes, I would say it has been cleaned because the toning looks off to me. One thing you can look for is toning that sort of lays on the fields--this toning doesn't look bad by any means, but I would be hesitant to call it "original." The 1821 is a VF-30, in my opinion.

BigGreek

Thanks again for all the great feedback and comments. I still have alot to learn about
toning and cleaning. If anyone has any examples of original vs. cleaned coins could you
post them? This is a great forum!