how to tell if toned coins have been cleaned?

Melmcbee

I have seen some beautiful tone coins lately. How do you tell if they have been cleaned or dipped? Thanks in advance.

Murphy

It's been my experience that cleaning or dipping removes a lot of the toning if not all of it on lightly toned coins. If only a dark ring remains around the rim and the center of the coin is blast white, it may have been cleaned, but that's not for sure. Sometimes it's hard to tell if a coin has been cleaned, but if it is toned all over or evenly toned, then that's a good sign that it hasn't been cleaned. But I'm no expert, that's just my opinion. Someone may come along behind me with better advice for you.

Deadhorse

Post some examples here and you will get a quick study in what they are and why.

Too large a subject to just grasp without some visual aids.

Boom

Mel, try to look past the toning and at the surfaces. Does it still have the cartwheel of a new, lustrous coin or is that cartwheel luster greatly diminished? It's been my experience that some tone problem coins in an attemt to hide flaws or that washed out look from having been overly dipped. Check your coins at first out in the sunlight and then under a Reveal light bilb. You'll start to catch on eventually. Good Luck!

Steve27

"How do you tell if they have been cleaned or dipped?"

If they have been properly dipped then you CAN'T tell. If cleaned, then you will see small lines under magnification, or the coin will have a bright polished look.

DRG

First definitions!

Cleaned, refers to a coin that has been rubbed or polished in some way. This leaves superficial scratches and/or a polished appearance. Cleaned coins get body bagged!

Dipped, refers to a coin that has been (hopefully) only lightly dipped in jewelry cleaner such as "jewel luster" and then rinsed well and padded dry. This is considered by most to be an acceptable way of removing distractions such as finger prints from otherwise attractive coins. Properly dipped coins are essentially undetectable from any other coin..

Determining if any given coin has been dipped is not easy. If the coin is blast white it may be original or it may have been dipped. If it has great luster and is attractive overall it really does not matter. If it is a deeply toned coin it probably has not been dipped or at least not recently (dipped coins can retone over time). Again, what really matters here is how attractive the coin is, not whether or not it has been dipped.

Determining if a coin has been cleaned can also be rather difficult but is much more important. Multiple superficial scratches can be seen on uncirculated coins that have been rubbed with a cloth but can be confused with die polishing marks (which are not a major negative). Polished and whizzed coins will have an un-natural shine that can be confused with normal luster. Being able to spot “CLEANED” coins comes with experience. Maybe someone here can post some photos but to really see the difference it is best to have some examples in hand. I would suggest asking a dealer to show you some examples of cleaned coins and compare them side by side to non cleaned examples. It will take some time to get used to the looks, but eventually the differences will become obvious.

Lastly, I would stress separating in your mind “cleaning” and “dipping”. While in normal speech dipping a coin is cleaning it. This is not the language used in our hobby. A “CLEANED” coin means that the coin shows evidence of being cleaned and therefore has actually been damaged.