When do hairlines indicate a coin has been cleaned?

[sam51-migration]

Here's a picture off a 1929 d mercury dime that appears pretty good to my (untrained) eye in this image which shows its toning.

 

 

But in this picture with the light at a lower angle, hairlines appear. Does this indicate that the coin has been cleaned, or are these signs of normal wear and tear?

 

[James_OldeTowne]

These hairlines are fairly randomly placed and do not strike me as the result of intentional cleaning. But then again, you could imagine someone in 1932 idly rubbing the coin while standing in line at the movie theater. Is that cleaning? I guess it is, but not from a numismatic intent.

 

At any rate, if the hairlines are no worse than that, then they wouldn't bother me at all.

[WoodenJefferson]

Really hard to determine exactly what is going on here, but there are the usual indicators to tell if a coin has been harshly cleaned (leaving obvious hairlines) in that the lines will be parallel to one another and will generally flow in the same direction over the fields, also going up and onto the devices. At times the buffing action will have the hairlines going in a slight arc across the face of the coin, which is another dead give away.

 

 

Oh...and welcome to the forum.

 

[sam51-migration]

Thanks James and WJ.

 

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but here's another picture which may show the hairlines a little better. I do notice that when the coin is rotated the hairlines do appear to run in random directions.

 

And thanks for the welcome.

 

[EZ_E]

Hairlines can be caused by wiping the coin with a cloth or even dry hands can cause hairlines if you rub the coin's surface without necessarily "cleaning" the coin.

 

I like the first pic but the second one turns me off. If you're working on a Merc set, coins like this makes the rest look bad. I would pass on this coin and avoid any problem coins w/i reason while assembling your set.

[TomB]

Sporadic hairlines on circulated coins is quite common and is from circulation.

[bsshog40]

Sporadic hairlines on circulated coins is quite common and is from circulation.

 

I agree with Tom here. Usually when a coin is cleaned and can be detected by hairlines, there will be quite a few of them. It's hard to tell even with the enhanced pics if these are actual cleaning hairlines.

[James_OldeTowne]

Amazingly, coins can practically leave the mint with sufficient hairlines to lead to a bodybag! I know of at least a couple separate occasions where someone has submitted a bank-wrapped original roll for certification only to have a few of the coins get bagged for cleaning - having never been touched by human hands ! In fact, I have often wished that rather than explaining a bodybag with the term "improper cleaning", the term "excessive hairlines" would be used instead, if that is indeed the reason for the bodybag.

[RWB]

On some coins, hairlines might be an advantage – for instance on an Ike dollar. The poor general has so little hair, that some extra might be welcome. (Maybe it fell out after Mamie learned of Ike’s English girlfriend…)

[Dcoin]

Also goes to show how even a nice, clear, high quality pic can hide just about ANY hairlines. Buyers beware, not of this coin, but about buying from a pic.

[sam51-migration]

I've wondered what some of these beautiful "True View" coins would look like if the picture was taken with a less flattering lighting angle.

[Bruceswar]

I keep thinking this coin is just off... Could this be a wizzed coin? Images make it hard to tell.

[sam51-migration]

I don't think the coin was whizzed, but to be honest I do not have enough experience to determine this for sure. It doesn't have the bright shinny look of an obviously whizzed coin, and it does have some luster in the protected areas.