lustre buster

[Guest brownowl]

I've always associated the word "lustre" with words like "bright" and "shiny". However, I get the feeling that lustre to a numistmatist means something slightly different than "shiny". Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

[Chris Perkins 223]

Yes 'Bright' and 'Shiny' are certainly part of the Lustre experience!

Lustre is what the coin has on it when it's freshly struck. So a brand new 'Shiny' coin that you get in your change has lustre on it. Over time, through handling, wear and being exposed to the elements the lustre gets lost and the coin will look brown (if it's copper or bronze) or just dull if it's a silver coloured coin.

When the original lustre has gone, that's it, you can never get it back! Even by polishing the coin (NEVER DO THAT) the original lustre can never be brought back and the shine resulting from polishing will be a different colour, have a different look and the coin will be worth less than if it was brown! Coin collectors and dealers can always tell the difference between original lustre and a polished coin and in most cases will not be very interested in a polished example.

So a coin with full unblemished lustre is a coin with it's original lustre as in left the mint and therefore, if it's an old coin much more in demand than a dull example.

Usually the grade BU (Brilliant Uncirculated) indicates a coin with full original lustre. Although UNC (Uncirculated)coins usually have most of their lustre intact and even EF (Extremely Fine) coins sometimes have traces remaining.

Hope that helps

CP

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