How low can you get(ebay auctions)

"PC" wrote in message
...
Captain Infinity wrote:
Gotta save those pictures for when someone asks me "what does a
whizzed coin look like?"

What does a "whizzed coin" mean? What am I looking at in those pics?

Thanks.


You take a tool that hacks the coin up. The end result is at first glance
the coin looks kind of "purty" but in reality the collectible value has
been destroued.

On top of that this (alleged) scum scraper is advertising them as high
grade proofs.

In basic, general terms...

Whizzers use a high speed drill (Dremel-type or even dental) and a burr
removing bit/tool like a wire brush or fine stone or composite wheel to
"rough-up" the coins surface that through manipulation or moving of tiny
amounts of the coin's metal produce a sheen that indeed makes it look
prettier, but in an unnatural way. As others have indicated, these two
coins appears polished, likely with a polishing wheel or perhaps very fine
jeweler's rouge to make the silver shine in a most unnatural way, giving it
that fake-looking mirror shine. No unaltered coin looks like polished
silver.

An interesting, more refined approach to this sort of deception is to first
whiz the coin to remove any defects due to wear or handling (stopping short
of the above sort of ridiculous mirror polishing) and then artificially
toning the coin to hide the polishing. Though harder to detect, the key to
spotting them is seeing normal wear and markings on the devices with super
clean and flat fields, while ignoring (or not being fooled by) the patina.

W.

This is polished coin, not a whizzed coin. A polished coin attempts
to simulate the appearance of a Proof coin, while a whizzed coin
attempts to simulate the frosty luster of a Mint State coin.

Polishing improves the aesthetic look of the coin.
I don't see a problem with what the seller is doing.

"1787" wrote in message
m...

"PC" wrote in message
...
Captain Infinity wrote:
Gotta save those pictures for when someone asks me "what does a
whizzed coin look like?"

What does a "whizzed coin" mean? What am I looking at in those pics?

Thanks.


You take a tool that hacks the coin up. The end result is at first
glance
the coin looks kind of "purty" but in reality the collectible value has
been destroued.

On top of that this (alleged) scum scraper is advertising them as high
grade proofs.

In basic, general terms...

Whizzers use a high speed drill (Dremel-type or even dental) and a burr
removing bit/tool like a wire brush or fine stone or composite wheel to
"rough-up" the coins surface that through manipulation or moving of tiny
amounts of the coin's metal produce a sheen that indeed makes it look
prettier, but in an unnatural way. As others have indicated, these two
coins appears polished, likely with a polishing wheel or perhaps very fine
jeweler's rouge to make the silver shine in a most unnatural way, giving
it
that fake-looking mirror shine. No unaltered coin looks like polished
silver.

An interesting, more refined approach to this sort of deception is to
first
whiz the coin to remove any defects due to wear or handling (stopping
short
of the above sort of ridiculous mirror polishing) and then artificially
toning the coin to hide the polishing. Though harder to detect, the key
to
spotting them is seeing normal wear and markings on the devices with super
clean and flat fields, while ignoring (or not being fooled by) the patina.

W.

"1787" wrote in message
m...

snip

Whizzers use a high speed drill (Dremel-type or even dental) and a burr
removing bit/tool like a wire brush or fine stone or composite wheel to
"rough-up" the coins surface that through manipulation or moving of tiny
amounts of the coin's metal produce a sheen that indeed makes it look


Uh oh.

"Honus" wrote in message
. ..

"1787" wrote in message
m...

snip

Whizzers use a high speed drill (Dremel-type or even dental) and a burr
removing bit/tool like a wire brush or fine stone or composite wheel to
"rough-up" the coins surface that through manipulation or moving of tiny
amounts of the coin's metal produce a sheen that indeed makes it look


Uh oh.

Don't panic.
I ain't gunna bite.

People know what they know, and if they're not going to accept the truth
when it stares them in the face, then there's little profit in trying to
help.

--
Jeff R.

On Jul 12, 7:22*am, "Rob Dilfer" wrote:
Polishing improves the aesthetic look of the coin.
I don't see a problem with what the seller is doing.

"1787" wrote in message

m...





"PC" wrote in message
...
Captain Infinity wrote:
Gotta save those pictures for when someone asks me "what does a
whizzed coin look like?"

What does a "whizzed coin" mean? *What am I looking at in those pics?

Thanks.

You take a tool that hacks the coin up. *The end result is at first
glance
the coin looks kind of "purty" but in reality the collectible value has
been destroued.

On top of that this (alleged) scum scraper is advertising them as high
grade proofs.

In basic, general terms...

Whizzers use a high speed drill (Dremel-type or even dental) and a burr
removing bit/tool like a wire brush or fine stone or composite wheel to
"rough-up" the coins surface that through manipulation or moving of tiny
amounts of the coin's metal produce a sheen that indeed makes it look
prettier, but in an unnatural way. *As others have indicated, these two
coins appears polished, likely with a polishing wheel or perhaps very fine
jeweler's rouge to make the silver shine in a most unnatural way, giving
it
that fake-looking mirror shine. *No unaltered coin looks like polished
silver.

An interesting, more refined approach to this sort of deception is to
first
whiz the coin to remove any defects due to wear or handling (stopping
short
of the above sort of ridiculous mirror polishing) and then artificially
toning the coin to hide the polishing. *Though harder to detect, the key
to
spotting them is seeing normal wear and markings on the devices with super
clean and flat fields, while ignoring (or not being fooled by) the patina.

W.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

In one sense I agree with you: the owner of a coin is permitted to do
as he wishes with it. I have mixed feelings since I have a similar
coin that is not polished and if someone polishes their coin, mine
becomes slightly more valuable.

What I think saddened "don't look" was the statement on the ebay
listing that the coin was "proof like". Someone reading the listing
might think the coin was the nearest thing to a proof (a nearly
perfect shiny coin). Instead what is offered is a polished coin.
This means that even more wear was purposely added to a coin to give
the "proof like" appearance. Since the listing doesn't actually say
this clearly, in addition to being sad about damaging the coin he is
probably also sad that someone might be mislead.

On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:22:08 -0700, "Rob Dilfer"
wrote:

Polishing improves the aesthetic look of the coin.
I don't see a problem with what the seller is doing.

I would not mind having a polished Morgan, but it would have to be a
higher grade coin. The coins in the auctions (especially the 1900)
have to much wear to go with the polished look.

I feel the same way about cleaned coins. A properly cleaned AU or BU
coin can look nice and still have a natural look to it. But an
over-cleaned low grade/circulated coin will always look odd and be
unnatural in appearance, no matter how good the cleaning job was. A VG
coin should not have the brightness of a BU coin.

On Jul 12, 12:12*pm, Jon Purkey wrote:

I feel the same way about cleaned coins. A properly cleaned AU or BU
coin can look nice and still have a natural look to it. But an
over-cleaned low grade/circulated coin will always look odd and be
unnatural in appearance, no matter how good the cleaning job was. A VG
coin should not have the brightness of a BU coin.

I have a 1922 Peace dollar that I carry around as a pocket piece.
It's in VG - F condition and shiny as a new dime due to the constant
polishing action of being carried around.

In , on 07/12/2008
at 01:55 PM, "Rob Dilfer" said:

This is polished coin, not a whizzed coin. A polished coin attempts to
simulate the appearance of a Proof coin, while a whizzed coin attempts to
simulate the frosty luster of a Mint State coin.

All Morgans that have deep mirrors have been polished or whizzed. It isn't
possible for a 100 year old coin to retain original luster, even in a
vacuum. Grading companies will help to keep the delusion alive.

N-n-n-n-n-no. "Dipped" and "Polished" are 2 massively different things.
Proof-like and those deep mirror finishes on high-grade Morgans are NOT
polished coins. Polished coins have been abrasively cleaned and are
typically shiney all over - fields AND devices. Polishing typically leaves
hairlines, unless you keep going until the whole coin (including devices) is
mirror-like. Ick.

It is very common for 100-200 year old coins to "retain original luster".
Luster might be obscured by toning, but it does NOT go away just because of
this. Luster is not the same as blast-whiteness.

If you're trying to claim that a coin doesn't remain BLAST WHITE over 100
year's time, well, I'll bet some can, but this would be a more realistic
claim. Have many Morgans been dipped or otherwise cleaned? Perhaps. I'm
more of a bust half guy, and it's hard to find one with original surfaces.
Some purists will pass on all but these, but if a coin looks ok, I can stand
some minor hairlines or the probability of a dipping. A polished coin,
however, is not a good thing. A polished-to-mirrored-surfaces coin is a
meltable object, IMNSHO.

There are, of course, different extremes to "polishing". I remember (he
says with a bit of reluctance when I was young, sitting with my parents
and cleaning off some of the silver coins we had in the "family collection".
Basically, just a bunch of material collected from change, but lots of
silver. We used some type of silver polish, if I remember correctly, and in
hindsight, we were abrasively scaping the tarnish off of each coin. Later,
I remember trying a TV-advertised product called Tarnex (sp?). It was more
of a dip rather than a scrape. Well, I may still have some of those coins
in my kids' all-but-forgotten "collection", but I can't imagine they'd grade
out very well. Hmmmm. I remember doing copper coins, too

The pieces shown on eBay are just plain disgusting. You are welcome to
believe that the polish job "improves the aesthetic look of the coin", but
that train of thought would be shared by a very miniscule group in a very
gigantic sample. Those coins are ruined. They've been aggressively
polished, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that a machine helped.
Perhaps a drill-powered buffing wheel or a bench unit. I've got a big beast
that I used to use to purty-up my cars' stainless .... it would wear small
dings and most scratches right out of the metal. Something you don't want
to do to collectable coins.

Nick

"Frank Provasek" wrote in message
...
This is polished coin, not a whizzed coin. A polished coin attempts to
simulate the appearance of a Proof coin, while a whizzed coin attempts to
simulate the frosty luster of a Mint State coin.

All Morgans that have deep mirrors have been polished or whizzed. It isn't
possible for a 100 year old coin to retain original luster, even in a
vacuum. Grading companies will help to keep the delusion alive.