You don't have to just buy slabed coins to keep from buying cleaned coins.

Just learn what a cleaned coin looks like. There are books on the subject of grading. If you have bought some cleaned pieces compare them to coins that are slabed. On BU coins learn what lustre looks like.

Also buy yourself a couple of "GOOD" loups! I don't mean the cheap chinese stuff either. Get you a Carl Zeiss 6X by 9X loupe. If you can't afford the Zeiss get a Belomo 7X and or a 10X. Also Bausch & Lomb has a good group of loups. I would suggest the B&L Hastings or even the B&L coddington.