Hairlines. Something that can destroy the grade of a "gem-looking" coin. :(
Insider2
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Often when we are checking TPGS slabs we see a virtually mark-free and flawless, blazing, gem coin that appears to be extremely under graded. Our greed sets and we quickly buy it intending to crack it and get the upgrade. Congratulations, you're 
in the big time now with the "sharks of the bourse floor."
Here is the usual result. Because you did not take the time to tip and rotate the slab in the light, you missed the reason the coin is graded lower than it looks. An almost invisible patch of hairlines across the face. This is very common on silver dimes and quarters. Take a look at the same coin rotated and tipped in the light:
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Good info Thanks
I guess I'm slow but it took me years to really get this. Coin show lighting is often not favorable to catching hairline patches on the bourse floor. Nothing like getting home and finding your new purchase has hairlines!
Great example. A single patch of parallel hairlines is trivially easy to hide in a photograph. Actually, to show it, you have to photograph it at one particular angle. Here's and example from my collection. At first glance, this looks pretty gemmy.
At a certain angle a small patch is evident - not enough to deserve a "no-grade" but there nonetheless. Let me see if I can get a photo that shows it as well as the OP did......
Well, here's what I could do. The hairlines extend from the cheek up into the headdress feathers.
I look at my newps in sunlight. It ruins my thoughts on practically every coin but the perfect light to spot hairlines.
Most coins look horrible in sunlight..... which begs a philosophical question about what we're really looking for anyhow..... but I digress.
It also reminds me of a mid-day trip down Bourbon street in New Orleans. What I saw down an alley could only have looked good in a dimly-lit room...... but I digress again.
Ever seen a $100,000 hairline? I have...
Right obverse field parallel with Liberty’s staff. At a different angle it’s prominent. Knocks $100k off (67 vs 66+) the coin’s value.
Are these hairlines due to the coin being rubbed?
On a Washie or 20th Century Eagle it's a shame. On a Trade dollar like that it's a crime. Still a nice coin..... but it's hard to not notice it once you see it.
While walking the floor at a show a dealer passed me and said come by my table I have a seated dollar for you. Arriving at his table he handed me the most common date in the series graded mint state by PCGS. Unfortunately the surfaces were bright white and covered with hairlines. I told him it wasn't for me and he asked why. I explained that it had far to many hairlines, I'll never forget his response. He said " my customers don't know what hairlines are".
Hairlines are a nasty little surprise.... that is why - when I went to shows - I always carried a flashlight. Just a small pocket size, bright light....I could then quickly see any sign of hairlines. I still carry a light with me, (actually two), though there are no coin shows here. Cheers, RickO
I think of it as tipping the coin against the light to spot the hairlines. I learned an expensive lesson (for me) purchasing a 27-d slq raw and having it come back in a bodybag.
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As @Rooster1 implied, I thought this was sometimes indicative of cleaning or polishing. Can someone clarify the difference? Maybe not with the Seated Liberty example shown above but more likely with the 1907 Eagle?
The trade dollar just had an incidental $100k light abrasion (hairline) but I wouldn't call it a rub. The Eagle had rub or (light wipe) across the device area shown which surprises me it graded 62 with a bean to boot! It must be quite gemmy from the right angle.
My favorite hairlined coin:
While the hairlines limited the grade to PR63RB, I find that the hairlines can add a little additional character to the toning........
OINK
It does suck to find them after the fact...
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This is why I prefer to buy my gem coins from bald dealers!
I chuckle when someone buys an ugly toned coin, dips it, only to find a myriad of hidden hairlines. Beauty is only skin deep!
Ya chuckle with Shazenfrued?
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
For me, this is the big problem with coin shops and coin shows (and most internet pics). At my local coin shop, they have lighting that makes it almost impossible to see these hairlines. I have purchased coins before, walked out of the shop and literally within 30 seconds realized I purchased a coin less choice than I thought.
Coin shows are similar. In Utah, we have a smaller venue where the big doors that open into the floor have a lot of sunlight. I have often requested from the dealer if I can walk over to the natural light to really inspect the coin.
Direct sunlight makes all coins look really bad, but indirect sunlight is the trick to really seeing the coin as it is IMO.
You forgot the "E". But kind of! Many coins are dipped out of greed, so my above comment is more of a justice thing.
PS, I have had to chuckle at myself in the past!
Dang guys, get it right. You're not even close. Schadenfreude. "Pleasure deriving from another's misfortune."
Kind regards,
George
@fastfreddie said: "The trade dollar just had an incidental $100k light abrasion (hairline) but I wouldn't call it a rub."
I'm just one voice in the numismatic universe. Therefore, what I write is not gospel yet I've spent a long time trying to standardize the words we use when writing about the characteristics we see on coins.
I don't like the wording of your sentence. I think of it this way. In order to abrade a surface, you need something hard enough to leave a mark. On a microscopic level the "something" you use has a rough surface. At the first light contact, it probably starts as a few thin hairline size scratches and progresses from there. Therefore, I must agree that a light abrasion can be classified as a few hairlines. However, things happen in a degree of severity. I personally do not consider/teach that One hairline on a surface is called an abrasion. Neither is a patch of hairlines although technically it is. Sometime between the one line and the actual destruction of the surface, the term "abrasion" becomes useful and the norm. In the same way, something rubbed the surface to produce a single hairline, a patch, and finally an obvious abrasion. For me, It all comes down to severity. A rub is an obvious type of abrasion.
SEE BELOW for the same thing.
@CleverUserName asked: "Can someone clarify the difference between cleaning and polishing?
The difference is in degree. There are two basic types of "cleaning:" Chemical or mechanical. Often they occur together. If you cannot tell anything was done to a surface, that is the lowest (and best) degree of cleaning. We call it conservation. If evidence remains. usually in the form of abrasion/hairlines (wink, wink) or color, then the coin has been cleaned improperly. Polishing is a form of mechanical "alteration." It is completely different from cleaning BUT it occurs high in the progression (degree) from a few hairlines to a surface that has been whizzed up into ridges!
A polished surface is usually shiny and the relief becomes less sharp and "rounded." While the difference between heavy cleaning, buffing, and polishing is very easy to identify when you know what to look for, the line has become blurred in the commercial grading system. Folks shy away from POLISHED coins so the term "CLEANED" is often applied to virtually any mechanical alteration to a coin's surface up to "whizzing!" This is very unfortunate but the commercial grading system exists to place a value on a coin and not to educate the buyer!
It's the most natural thing to do for someone to whisper "haaaaa" on their smudged eyeglasses lenses and then rub them with their shirt. So it is (was) over the years with some shiny coins; one or two times is a "wipe". A few more times (maybe with some cleansing soap like Comet or Ajax) is a cleaning. Keep going for a long time, that's "polished"
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry