Poll-What percentage of Pre-1900 silver coins were cleaned?

rec78

I think that over 70 % of the silver coins minted before 1900 were cleaned in some manor or another. An awful lot were brushed-some harshly and some just slightly wiped. Morgan dollars may be the exception. i find light cleaning or wiping to be acceptible as long as the coin still has eye appeal because true original coins are very hard to come by. Opinions are welcome. thanks. Bob

cladking

A lot depends on how you define the terms but if you're talking about a light soap and
water cleaning on up then it's probably in the vicinity of virtually all of the circulated coins
and the vast majority of the uncs. Even proofs are more likely to have had some cleaning
than not. Collectors of that era were more likely to clean than now and most coins have
had at least four owners since those days and some as many as twenty or thirty. The odds
are simply heavily stacked against a coin noty having been cleaned. Of course, many coins
have been well cared for and evidence of this cleaning wasn't visible or has faded with time.