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RC Wise Men,

I have recently acquired this coin as a start to my morgan collection. It's a 1921-D and I don't know if this coin has been cleaned or not. I just wanted to get some advice about it and wether or not it's even worth grading. I picked this up for $28 from a jewelry shop. This is just one of many coins I purchased, but this one is by far the most lustrous of them all. Just wanted to pick your brains.





I apologize about the pictures, as they were taken on my phone ( I don't have a fancy microscope camera yet ). For some odd reason, I only notice a little cloudiness in the photo around the numbers, and a little around the letters, but not when I'm holding it in my hand. Don't know if my phone is picking up something that I can't see.

And to add to the post, I don't see that little haziness around the letters on the reverse of the coin around the letters.

your pics aren't showing up...

Sorry, my photobucket account is being so wacky.





I still can't get a great shot of it. You can see the reflection of my phone in the coin.

Could be wrong, but it appears to have been cleaned. I think you have a shiny bullion coin.

IMO, it looks like someone cleaned it and then went to town on it with a buffing cloth.

heavily polished, ungradeable

Scrap silver. Definitely cleaned.

That's what I was afraid of. So was I correct about the dull luster around the letters and the ridiculous amount of mirror shine? Anything I can do to increase my knowledge about cleaned coins would be great.

The problem is that it is too smooth. A truly uncirculated coin, even a Mirror prooflike has a certain texture to it (for lack of a better word, any help appreciated). Look at graded coins on ebay and you can see the difference. This one seems to be missing the texture. Also, look for the highest points on the coin, the eagles breast, the hairlines above the ear on this coin and see if the lines there are sharp or dull or appear rubbed smooth.

I'd suggest investing about $12 on a photograde or ANA guide to coin grading and study them, then look at as many coins as possible, each time doing a rough grading on them.

Good luck.