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What constitutes improper cleaning?

Started by Peace_Fan,

2 posts in this topic

Peace_Fan

Peace_Fan

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Posted

I sent in a coin for crossover, and it came back with the note "improper cleaning". There are no hairlines, but there is a faint stain on the obverse that looks like water spotting. Is that what caused the no cross? If so, what likely caused the stain?

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John Maben

John Maben

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Barry,

 

I can't say specifically what caused the "no cross" without again seeing your coin. However, a stain would not result in an "improper cleaning" reason being given. If the stain was bad enough, it would say "stained" instead of or in addition to the other reason given. The fact that you can not see any hairlines doesn't really mean anything. Cleaning will not always cause hairlines that are visible, even with magnification. Certain types of wiping, buffing, wheel marks, over dipping, etc will give a coin an unnatural enough appearance either in one area or over the entire coin to cause a "no cross" or a "no grade". Often this is not immediately apparent especially to someone that hasn't seen huge quantities of coins. In every case you MUST angle the coin in various positions with proper lighting to see many types of cleaning. It also helps to view the coin at different distances from the light source. These tips are MORE important than the use of magnification in spotting many types of cleaning and other defects despite what anyone else may tell you.

 

John

 

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