I'll never get so lucky again. Three stage restoration of 3-Cent Silver.

When it comes to what is or what is not ethical, just about everybody will have different ideas. But consider this. Pretty much every person who owns older coins, owns coins that have been dipped. And no, that is not an exaggeration, just a simple statement of fact. Fully 80% or more of all older coins have been dipped at least once, and many more than once, over the course of their lives. And yes that includes all of those MS coins you see in TPG slabs. The TPGs themselves will dip coins.

Dipping coins is and always has been an acceptable practice in the numismatic community. Dipping coins is no different than rinsing them in distilled water, or acetone, or xylene. And does everybody tell everybody else when they do that ? No of course not. Why not ? Well because they haven't done anything wrong, they haven't done anything that is unethical. They haven't tried to take advantage of anybody or deceive anybody by dipping or rinsing the coins, and they haven't damaged the coins. In effect all they have done is to remove contaminants from the surface of the coins. So what about it could possibly be unethical ?

I won't say it's impossible but it is highly unlikely. I say that because literally tens of millions of coins have been dipped and months, years, and even decades afterwards they are not stained. I can pretty much guarantee that many of the coins you own have been dipped - are they all, or even any of them stained ?

Simply put, when dipping is done correctly nothing happens afterwards except for the coin to begin the natural toning process all over again. There are only three scenarios where dipping a coin can turn out badly. 1 - when the toning has already done irreparable damage. 2 - when the coin is over-dipped, is other words when the dipping is not done correctly. And 3 - when the dip solution is not neutralized after dipping, or in other words when the dipping is not done correctly.

Bottom line, as long as the dipping is done correctly the coin will suffer no ill effects except for when scenario #1 has already occurred. And even then the person dipping the coin still hasn't done anything wrong. And I say that because there is no way that anyone can ever know that scenario #1 has occurred unless they dip the coin.

A lot of people seem to have this idea that dipping a coin is a bad thing, that it is harmful to coins. Well it isn't, it is a protective measure. If coins were not dipped most of the older coins that everybody owns would be nothing but ugly dark brown or black blobs instead of the beautiful coins that they so greatly admire and care for. Learning how to dip coins and do it properly is arguably one the best things that has ever happened to coin collectors. Problem is many of them don't even know it.

 

Just because a coin is toned, that does not mean it hasn't been previously dipped. The vast majority of all toned coins have been previously dipped - including Morgans. And some might say especially Morgans because of their exceptional and long lived popularity.

And yeah, I know, Morgans can be an exception because they were stored in bank vaults for many decades. But at the same time one must also realize that once they were taken out, and even prior to the GSA sales they were being taken out and had been for several decades, they became exposed to the environment and the natural processes occurred - ie toning. And it's only been for the last 30 years or so that proper storage methods began to be utilized, and to a very limited degree for a lot of that time. Couple that with the fact that prior to the turn of the century white coins were far and away the most popular, which means that most coins, even Morgans, were dipped.

Add it all up and yeah there are some that have not been dipped, but they are the exception not the rule, just as it is with all other older coins. Ya see, I/m not denying the possibility of there being Morgans that have not been dipped. I am merely pointing out that the probability of it is still quite low.

No you can't, and neither can anybody else. The one and only way that anyone can tell if a coin has been dipped is by using deductive reasoning. If an older coin is white deductive reasoning tells you the probability is high, very high, that it has been dipped. And if an older coin is toned, again deductive reasoning tells you it has almost certainly been dipped. But other than that, there are no detectable signs to indicate that a coin has been dipped, assuming it was dipped properly.

Now a coin that has been improperly dipped, yes those can often be detected by the signs improper dipping leaves behind.

Now I realize some wish to deny this is true, but that is largely because it simply isn't what they want to believe. Or, because they do not know the facts and or the history. And the facts are any coin exposed to the air will tone, and all coins are exposed to the air - always have been since there are no airtight coin holders or storage methods; and that freshly dipped coins tone just as fast as freshly minted coins. These things are facts, undeniable facts.

And the documented history is that for many, many decades the vast majority of all toned coins were dipped. And, that proper storage methods which can help slow down toning did not even exist until about 30 years ago. And, until those storage methods did come along, and even after, the vast majority of collectors did not utilize them - and to a large degree still don't. Even today the most popular and most often used storage methods are coin albums of one sort or another and cardboard 2x2s - both of which are very conducive to toning. Then throw in the paper envelopes and cardboard tab holders that were so popular for many decades and what you end up with nearly all coins toning significantly.

All of this combined tells us that the probability is extremely high that all older coins, including Morgans, have been dipped at one point or another in the course of their lives. For if they had not been most of them would be very dark or black by now.

And no, you don't have to believe any of that. But what does reasoning, logic, and common sense, tell you if you do not ?

 

As I mentioned before, it's pretty much accepted as fact by most knowledgeable numismatists that at least 80% of them have been. So that's a definite yes.