There I was, standing at another dealer's table, praying the man ahead of
me wouldn't buy the coin he was looking at, so that I could. The coin in
question was a bargain-priced 1796/5 small eagle $5 that I quickly
re-wholesaled for about 30% over cost. The other guy passed because the coin
had been gently cleaned. (Praise the Lord!)
Like many anecdotes, this one has a moral, which is that successful coin
evaluators must create a "degree scale" for any imperfection or defect.
Severity of cleaning, for example, can range from nearly undetectable to so
harsh as to eliminate most of a coin's market.
First consider what can be reasonably expected. To illustrate, most Bust
Dollars have been cleaned and I would imagine that in the case of many early
coins, those who assemble most of the price guides assume that some cleaning
may have occurred. So if the cleaning happened long ago and the surfaces
have re-toned attractively, then the cleaning may be overlooked by most
collectors. (Those who only buy examples with absolutely original surfaces
should expect either to pay a substantial premium or to wait a long time
between purchases.)
By contrast, it would strike me as foolish to purchase a modern silver
commemorative that was even slightly cleaned unless the discount was
substantial, since pristine specimens are readily available.
My point is that when assembling any coin collection, an intelligent
collector will attempt to strike a balance between condition, availability
and price. Even if cost isn't a consideration, perfection is seldom
obtainable. What's far more important than deciding whether you're willing
to accept a cleaned coin, is knowing whether or not you did. Over the coming
weeks I will suggest methods that will help any collector, from beginner to
expert, improve his or her skills at recognizing the various components of
coin valuation. Including cleaning.
