EZ_E Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 [font:Comic Sans MS] Lustrous coins are the prize of many numismatists’ collections. So prized is the presence of brilliant mint luster that some unscrupulous individuals have taken to methods of forcing brilliant luster on a coin that does not otherwise possess it. Unfortunately, these attempts to create a quality that is not there leave behind a damaged coin. One of the more extreme methods of creating luster is what is known as “whizzing.” Whizzing is created when a mechanical wire brush is taken to the surface of a coin at high speed. The result is a coin that has the appearance of brilliant luster but is distinctly not mint created luster. Whizzed coins can be identified by features that are different from a coin with true mint luster. There will be large circular scratches in the surface of a coin that has been whizzed. True mint luster will reflect light from the center of the coin out, with two opposing pie-shaped light reflections known as “cartwheel luster.” Whizzed coins typically will not reflect light from the center of the coin and often reflect a less distinct opposing fashion. Whizzed coins have had their original surface metal abraded and moved and, often at the edges of devices and legends, one will find a raised edge of metal. This 1932 D Quarter was recently submitted for encapsulation. One of the keys of the Washington Quarter series is known to be encountered with fake mintmarks added for more common Philadelphia strike coins. This particular coin was determined to be genuine, but the unfortunate victim of a mechanical wire brush in its past. The luster on this piece may at first appear brilliant, but upon closer inspection of details, such as the random chunks of reflection in this image rather than the cartwheel of original mint luster, this coin has been damaged. [/font] From the NCS newsletter Mr_Spud 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillJones Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Here is another more obvious example. This 1932-D is badly whizzed. This coin came from a collection that I bought some years ago. The good news was this collector had completed all of the modern coin sets from the Lincoln cent to the Franklin half dollar in what he thought was Brilliant Uncirculated. The bad news was every one of the key date coins had been cleaned in all the sets including the Lincoln cents. All of the common dates in this Washington Quarter set were decent to nice Mint State coins, EXCEPT for the 1932-D and S. They had been cleaned up like this coin. Had the key coins not been cheated when he bought them, the family would have gotten a lot more money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAULEMALL Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Bill, Do you think he may have bought them that way and gotten a break on the price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillJones Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 I have now way of knowing for sure because the collector had died, and his family, who were not collectors, was selling the coins. My informed opinion would be that he bought the coins this way and got no break on them. He thought the coins were OK because they are white in the case of the silver pieces and red for the Lincoln cents. The trouble is ALL of the key dates had been cleaned in one way or another. The common date coins had all been left alone. The one good coin that had not been messed with was his 1922 Plain cent. That coin, which is rare in strict Mint State and rarer still in Red Unc. was an original EF-40. That was the best coin in the collection because it was scarce and it had not been cleaned. His 1909-S-VDB would have been a very nice AU or Unc. piece, but it had been cleaned and had now toned to R&B. I sent it to ANACS because you really can’t sell that coin raw because all of the counterfeits that are around. It came back “Unc. details net AU. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJ'S Coins Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Are all whizzed coins as obvious as these examples??? I thought many were much more subtle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillJones Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 No, some of them are more subtle. You have to hold this coin at a certain angle to see the whizz lines. The darn thing fooled me 20 years ago. Since the base grade is EF-45, it makes you wonder why they bothered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physics-fan3.14 Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 It is possible to take a whizzed coin and wear it down a bit to remove evidence of whizzing, correct? Sometimes being a lower grade nice looking coin can make up for a higher grade, whizzed coin. Bill, that half appears to be very nice. Yet another example of what a picture can hide. Could you maybe point out where the whizzing is, so that we can try to see it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillJones Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 If one were to take the 1932-D quarter that I pictured and wear it down to say Ch VF by carrying it as a pocket piece for a few years, it could be a "clean" VF coin. You would need to remove through honet wear a layer of metal to remove and hide the whizz lines so that they blend in with the normal cirulation marks. As for the showing the whiz lines one the 1853 half dollar to a better advantage, that's not possible in a photo. The lines coin only be seen at a given angle as you mover the coin in a pointed light source. The way you can tell that they are whiz lines is that they run in a pattern. They are not random. The coin fooled me when I bought it in 1987. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physics-fan3.14 Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 If one were to take the 1932-D quarter that I pictured and wear it down to say Ch VF by carrying it as a pocket piece for a few years, it could be a "clean" VF coin. You would need to remove through honet wear a layer of metal to remove and hide the whizz lines so that they blend in with the normal cirulation marks. Would you consider this to be doctoring a coin? Normally, doctoring is considered to be improving a coin through false or deceptive actions to achieve a higher grade or value. But this method would be actually removing the problem, albeit with the same goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillJones Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 I would not really call it doctoring. To me doctoring implies that you are doing something to a coin to decieve the customer which results in causing that person financal harm in the future. If the customer buys a coin that has become an VF because it was in fact circulated in the usual way, I don't see any harm. A VF is a VF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Provasek Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 The 1853 half seems to have been harshly cleaned with an abrasive, such as silica (sand) based scouring powder (Ajax or Comet), but not whizzed. Whizzing is much worse, since the high speed wire brush really tears up the surface of the coin (much like a Weed Eater does to a wood fence) Whizzing gives a distinctive glow that is easy to spot once you have seen it in person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillJones Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Well it does not matter if it's Ajax or a brush the coin won't grade, and after owning it for more than 20 years, I'm sure to lose money on it. Anyone who wants to own it for $190 post paid can have it. The picture is entirely accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rons Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 How long would you have to carry this as a pocket piece to restore it to acceptable grading standards? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillJones Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Probably 4 or 5 years with lots of change in your pocket. Maybe I'll give it a try with that 1853 arrows and half dollar. That one really only needs to be worn down to EF-40 to be acceptable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Ong Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 just make sure you don't try to spend it!! you'd get quite a few funny (and possibly angry) looks if you did... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
physics-fan3.14 Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 just make sure you don't try to spend it!! you'd get quite a few funny (and possibly angry) looks if you did... Might be fun... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mdpittman Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 Is it possible to get a second opinion? Or send it back to ask for a review? I'm really bummed about my AU details 1915 Barber Half dollar coming back whizzed.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebeav Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 It's not something that is easily visible from a photo. You can be quite certain however, if the NGC graders found your half to be whizzed, it is..... I would venture a guess that most of us have purchased such a coin early in our dealings...... Mdpittman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member: Seasoned Veteran DWLange Posted May 26, 2021 Member: Seasoned Veteran Share Posted May 26, 2021 I've never bought a whizzed coin myself, but when in my early teens my best coin buddy bought an 1862 cent as Gen BU for about $40, quite a sum at that time for our age. An employee at our regularly frequented coin shop set him straight, and I learned a valuable lesson for free. That was 50 years ago, when whizzing was just becoming a thing. Most such pieces went to would-be investors who bought their coins by mail. RonnieR131 and Mdpittman 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
