Cleaned Coins

JWalker3 · Oct 9, 2015

I've always read that cleaning your coins damages them and ruins their numismatic value. I'm bidding on a coin on Ebay Described openly as "Up for auction, 1909-S Indian Head Cent, in our opinion, has VF Details. Cleaned. You decide what it is worth, there is NO RESERVE". Since I bid it to $5 it has bid up for a week to $308, which I suspect to go higher before it ends tonight. I realize it is a key date and mint mark. My question is how much does cleaning really damage a coins value? Here is the coin, it is obviously cleaned.

Ice Scratcher · Oct 9, 2015

Interesting topic..

Many coins we find, cleaning can increase value..

As an example, a 1916d merc covered in crust to a point that the date is ineligible, would be worth more cleaned. A lot of water coins are worth less cleaned because of losing weight as they are mostly scrap..

I cleaned the hell out of this walker, its worth more to me now..( still have 6 others I've found..)... It's still the same weight almost.. The hole is pounded open, not drilled. It's also bigger because it was hammered flat, not sanded down, still has a reeded edge..

<°)))>{

Ron 71 · Oct 9, 2015

Cleaning a dug coin should increase its value because otherwise it's worthless,but cleaning a old coin just to remove "patina" and make it shiny again definitely decreases its value.

ohiochris · Oct 9, 2015

Check with a coin dealer. The way I understand it , and as has been described on this forum and others.....some coin dealers or prospective buyers will not want certain coins if they have been cleaned , that obviously reduces the value. Seems like the seller of this coin knows this and that is probably the reason for his no reserve , " you decide what its worth " listing. He isnt necessarily being dishonest , but its a buyer beware situation. Still , its a rare coin so fo all I know it may be one that cleaning really dosent harm much.

Ron 71 · Oct 9, 2015

From what i can tell, a 1909 s mint in its lowest grade (g-4) is worth around $400, That coin uncleaned would probably fetch around $800-$1000 Key dates will always have some value as lower grades are the only way some people can add one to their collection.

Coinshark · Oct 9, 2015

The grade on the coin looks correct. (VF20). Normally, the 1909S key date at that grade is about $700. Coin store owner will drop the value to low grades which is good/very good $450-525 because it has been cleaned. We would only buy at/around the good grade price so we could sell near the higher. We had to make some money. :grin:

There is some leeway because it is the demand for the key date that drives the price.

If a store owner needs one, he will deal with you a little on the price.

Serious collectors would come in the store uninterested in that coin, but a collector on a budget trying to fill the hole in his collection (the majority) will not be picky on that coin. Looks great!
At least the seller is honest.

MD-Mainiac · Oct 12, 2015

when a dealer is buying from you, the coin is a lower grade then you think.
if you were to buy the same coin from a dealer, it will go up a grade.

very few, I can count them on one hand, stick to the same grade buying or selling.

the important of this sale, is, would you be happy spending several hundreds of dollars on this coin?
If you are buying it for investment, don't.

VF details doesn't just mean VF, there are other things besides "Cleaned" that go into a details grade.

So, if it is for your collection, and you would be happy with it then buy it, otherwise don't. and you would want to verify it isn't an altered coin. compare this coin to genuine 1909-S coins..

In my opinion.. I wouldn't touch it. It is worn, poorly cleaned, they didn't even remove the verdigras, which you can do legitimately with the coin being considered "CLEANED".

JWalker3 · Oct 13, 2015

Thank you all for your replies. I was not willing to spend more than $15 on that coin. My conundrum is: are we in the metal detecting hobby being duped a bit on the cleaning coins we dig issue or not. I personally think most of the coins I dig are damaged already by being exposed to the elements. What harm can we do to an already damaged coin? On the other hand I've seen a few nice looking coins posted here that I wouldn't touch with a cleaning process at all.

Coinshark · Oct 13, 2015

If you collect coins just to have them, do what you like, it's your collection.
If you only have them because you found them MDing, again do what you like.

If you are collecting for a later investment, cleaning may not be the best thing to do. It can, most of the time, hurt the value.
I believe most of us thought you where interested in the value.

FallGuy · Oct 15, 2015

JWalker3 said:
Thank you all for your replies. I was not willing to spend more than $15 on that coin. My conundrum is: are we in the metal detecting hobby being duped a bit on the cleaning coins we dig issue or not. I personally think most of the coins I dig are damaged already by being exposed to the elements. What harm can we do to an already damaged coin? On the other hand I've seen a few nice looking coins posted here that I wouldn't touch with a cleaning process at all.

This is true for probably most coins we find in the ground with common dates in mint marks. They are usually already scratched etc. However, if you do find that rare coin, additional cleaning can cause worse damage than is already present and hurt the value even more.

There is also a difference in cleaning coins you find in the ground and taking that nice Morgan silver dollar in your collection and cleaning that with silver polish. All coins in the ground have to be "cleaned" to some extent. There are good ways and bad ways to do that. That is another discussion. Cleaning the coin in your collection that wasn't dug is always a bad idea and should not be done.

Swinglow · Oct 26, 2015

JWalker3 said:
Thank you all for your replies. I was not willing to spend more than $15 on that coin. My conundrum is: are we in the metal detecting hobby being duped a bit on the cleaning coins we dig issue or not. I personally think most of the coins I dig are damaged already by being exposed to the elements. What harm can we do to an already damaged coin? On the other hand I've seen a few nice looking coins posted here that I wouldn't touch with a cleaning process at all.

Did you see the guy who dug a 1916 standing liberty quarter, wiped it and put scratches into the obverse? That coin with just enviro damage may have done ok, but the scratches ruined the eye appeal.

MOST dug coins, it doesn't matter. MOST. Rarities are a different animal. Non-dug coins, NEVER EVER CLEAN!

LOL @ paying $15 for that coin :laughing:

That's just an insult to the seller. Hell, even $150 is insulting for that coin.

gseuser · Nov 10, 2015

Usually drops 2 grades less

Cleaned Coins

JWalker3

Attachments

Ice Scratcher

Elite Member

Attachments

Ron 71

ohiochris

Elite Member

Ron 71

Coinshark

Elite Member

MD-Mainiac

JWalker3

Coinshark

Elite Member

FallGuy

Senior Member

Swinglow

Elite Member

gseuser

Elite Member

Similar threads