Cleaning Vs. Restoring 1 1

[Big Nub numismatics]

There are many coin collectors/dealers on here that have respectable opinions that I value. Here, I give the question: How do you define cleaning/ restoring? and Is it "ok"/ market acceptable to restore a coin?

[VKurtB]

Restoring? No, never. Cleaning? Not by any mechanical means, aka rubbing or abrading with ANYTHING. Strictly chemical cleaning methods may in some cases be okay. And that leads us to "conserving", which is always chemical when done by experts, and sometimes yields positive results, and sometimes not. It's not the cleaning method that makes it okay or not, it's what is found underneath the debris that has been removed.

[Just Bob]

I am not a dealer,  but I have a question: Are you differentiating between "restoring," and "conserving?"

[Big Nub numismatics]

No, it seems it's almost impossible to do one without the other, especially in NCS' case.

[gmarguli]

They are manly just different words for the same thing. Acceptable is doing something that does not significantly alter the metal (ex. dipping). Not acceptable is doing something that significantly alters the metal (ex. rubbing which causes hairlines). 

[Coinbuf]

There are all sorts of "market acceptable" coins that have been cleaned, AT'd, doctored, insert what ever term/phrase you like.  It all comes down to how rare it is, the more rare the more the problems are overlooked.  At the end of the day if the coin was going down a bad path due to PVC, or some other corrosive environmental substance that can be stopped by the use of something like acetone or even a mild dip then I'm fine with that.  What I do not like is when the metal is changed, or crayon colors are added, that type of "enhancement" and "market acceptability" is not ok in my mind.

[Henri Charriere]

The cold hard truth is, where there is a profit motive involved, nothing anyone has to say here will make a difference. The boogeyman man out there doesn't care about what is okay and not okay, where money is involved. Last year, I did something nobody would do. I entrusted my life to a surgeon I had never met and, after a no more than five-minute consultation, said yes to a hip re-replacement. Re restoration and conservation, etc., there are surgeons at NGS that are practiced and well-versed in such matters. I would entrust them with my treasured possessions, unconditionally.  You are never going to stop someone intent on doing the wrong thing.  Instead, what you can do is protect yourself, defensively, by familiarizing yourself with all aspects of coin tampering thereby limiting your exposure to fraud, and worse. To think, there was a time when I actually vowed I would never give in to the encapsulation trend. The gradual, almost imperceptible, demise of brick-and-mortars and the advent of the internet forced me to reconsider. Accordingly, that recent item in Coin Week (I believe it was) regarding the couple that waltzed into a coin shop in Ohio with three St. Gaudens double Eagle, one of which turned out to be the rarest of the Carson City's in VF condition -- was, to me, a breath of fresh air. Who'd've thought a truly serendipitous surprise like that was still possible in 2020? Now that's a coin worth certifying!  And if it needs sprucing up, that's a decision better left to the experts. (Let's not forget... someone had to re-do all those classic coins carelessly glued to boards at the world-renowned Smithsonian.)

[MAULEMALL]

Oh for the days when you dropped your coins off to the concierge to have your coins scrubbed...

 

[James_OldeTowne]

I have little issue with a coin that would benefit from restoration being "restored".  For example, I owned a Pine Tree shilling partially cut in half, and had someone decided to expertly bond the two pieces back together for the integrity (so it wouldn't break all the way), that's fine with me.

 

"Cleaning" is a matter of degree.

[Insider]

The answer to your question is simple.  ANYTHING done to a coin can be said to be cleaning, doctoring, restoring, altering, blah, blah, blah.  That includes running water over it or brushing it with a camel's hair brush.  People get all hung up with the words - cleaning/conservation/doctoring.  Intent is something we may never know but in truth it does not change this answer:

IMO, ANYTHING that ANYONE does to a coin that CANNOT BE DETECTED is OK.  That covers just about any word you wish to use. 

Thus, coin "doctors" have been getting coins graded for decades.  Coin collectors and dealers have been getting "their work" graded for decades.  Conservation services have been getting their work graded also.   Unfortunately, due to subjectivity and the ability of the examiner, some of these coins would fail the "cannot be detected" or "market acceptable" test.     

Edited August 14, 2020 by Insider