Coins that were "wiped" with a cotton cloth

tjkillian

Would a coin that was in someone pocket, say blue jeans, in the early 1870s rubbing around in her pocket be considered cleaned? Let's say that no one did anything intentionally to clean or improve the appearance of the coin, it mearly rattled around in a person's pocket. I would assume it could have hairlines as if it were cleaned.

Assume it as a cool coin, like a 1871-CC quarter in low-end AU condition.

AUandAG

No.

Wiping with a cloth would produce parallel lines on the coin. Pocket carring would produce
random directions and never parallel lines.

Pocket carried is what made it AU.

bob

fc

i think that wiping "gently" only leaves hairlines on a proof coin in a very easy fashion.
i think that wiping "gently" on a circulated coin does not leave hairlines very easily.

i also think that hairlines that are obvious on a circulated coin comes from a very harsh wiping
that has a lot of strength put into it. carrying a coin around in your pocket does not leave lines
all going in one general direction. so not it is not cleaned.

mirabela

It will hairline just like a 'wiped' coin, and it might get bagged as such. In practice, it seems to be dependent on whether or not it is a tough coin. Common seated quarter might get bagged; CC coin, seated dollar, Trade dollar, etc will probably slab.

I saw an incredible PL Trade dollar at a show yesterday, which I'm an idiot for not having bought, which I bet exactly this happened to.

If you haven't popped a new Unc ASE or something similar in your pocket and carried it around for a few months, it is worth doing to familiarize yourself with the appearance and progression of friction, rub, and hairlines. Many coins I might have dismissed as 'cleaned' are probably just circulated. Especially if there are keys in the pocket ... forget it.

Some here might be surprised at how organized-looking the patches of hairlines from pocket wear can be.

rhedden

PCGS and NGC hate those parallel "wipe" lines worse than just about anything. Start with an MS67 Morgan and put a tiny wipe on it somewhere, and it becomes an MS62, or it gets bodybagged for "altered surfaces". Yet the same coin could acquire a couple of heavy bagmarks from another coin, instead of a wipe, and it will only get downgraded to MS64. For this reason, I hesitate to submit anything to PCGS that has parallel hairlines on it, even if it's a natural-looking XF and the lines are toned over.

RichieURich

I wouldn't call it cleaned, either. By the way, when you find that AU 1871-CC quarter, please call me!