How do you detect cleaning on Morgan dollars?

mademan

Hello friends. I just got a 1889S Morgan, which I thought would grade MS 61( it has numerous bag marks) , back in a body bag. It was labeled as being cleaned. Iam a novice at Morgans but I did have 3 other people I trusted look at the coin and aside from differences in the grade none mentioned cleaning. In the future how can I tell if a Morgan has been cleaned. I have read about looking for hairline scratches, but this coin did not have them and had a nice cartwheel effect. Any help on this, or a referal to a book that has good info would be appreciated. Don/MM

sumdunce

If you can post an image of the coin (obverse, and reverse) then we may be able to better help you on this.

Sumdunce

PTVETTER

some where on the coin there are those hairlines you commented about. Not all are decteted easy. You need the right light at the right angle with Good eye sight.

Hope this helps

roadrunner

One can overdip or acid bathe a coin removing layers of luster. You may still have a cartwheel left, but the brilliance will be much less.
Compare your coin to a slabbed PCGS or NGC MS63 to 65 common date Morgan. You'll see the difference.

roadrunner