Don't Clean Your Coins

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by physics-fan3.14, Sep 20, 2019.

  1. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

    Friends don't let friends clean coins!

    Watch this video to see an example of what happens to a toned dollar when it is dipped. I think this is instructive for all of us, to see how a dipped coin might look.

     
    Paul M. likes this.
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  3. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

    For a few other examples, here are two coins which had been dipped. On the first one, notice the splotchiness of the toning? That orange color comes from a dip which hadn't been properly rinsed, and begins to retone. Any time you see a splotchy orange color like this, you know 100% it has been dipped.

    On the second coin, notice how there is thick dark toning around the devices, but the fields are bright? This is a classic sign the coin was dipped. The toning tends to be a bit thicker around the devices, and so the dip needs to be longer to remove all of that toning. You see something very similar on the Morgan in the video above.

    Important to note: both of these coins were certified by NGC. TPGs absolutely slab even obviously dipped coins. These were mistakes I made when I was younger - don't repeat my mistake!

    JPA834 obverse.jpg JPA834 reverse.jpg JPA769 obverse (2).jpg JPA769 reverse (2).jpg
     
  4. Islander80-83

    Islander80-83 Well-Known Member

    What do the labels say?
     
  5. Paul M.

    Paul M. Well-Known Member

    micbraun and geekpryde like this.
  6. Paul M.

    Paul M. Well-Known Member

    Here's another cautionary tale: 1850 double eagle, NGC MS64 PL, cracked out and polished. Great way to turn a $100k coin into a $10k coin.

     
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  7. Islander80-83

    Islander80-83 Well-Known Member

    Ouch!!
     
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  8. physics-fan3.14

    physics-fan3.14 You got any more of them.... prooflikes?

    The second one was 64FBL. I don't remember what the first one was. I sold these both long ago.

    I thought it looked cool when I bought it. I know better now.
     
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  9. Dave Waterstraat

    Dave Waterstraat Well-Known Member

    Odds are the Franklins didn't look that bad when they were graded.
     
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  10. GDJMSP

    GDJMSP Numismatist Moderator

    Ya know, it's real easy to make a video like this and then use it as example of why coins should not be dipped and say - don't dip your coins.

    But what they should be saying is - don't dip the wrong coin. And, if you do dip it, make sure you do it correctly.

    And this -

    I just flat out disagree with this statement. Splotchy toning is often completely natural. And the color, color is determined by conditions - environmental variables. That orange color, it can also occur in a completely natural manner - not just as a result of a coin being dipped incorrectly. Sure, it may occur as a result of an in incorrect dip - but that doesn't mean that's the only way it occurs.

    The bottom line is this, everyone is entitled to their own preferences and opinions as to whether coins should be or should not be dipped. But literally tens of millions of coins have been dipped, and successfully so. Almost every collector there is has some dipped coins in their collection - though they may not be aware that they do. And in almost all cases, they think those dipped coins are beautiful !

    Whenever I see stuff like this I urge people to remember one thing - dipping coins has saved millions upon millions of them from certain destruction. For untold generations coins have stored incorrectly, resulting in ugly and destructive toning. Now that's not to say that all toning is ugly, and or destructive, far from it. But much of it is. And all of it will be unless it is checked in one way or another.

    When a coin has beautiful, attractive toning, you maintain that beauty with proper storage methods. But once the toning reaches the point that it has become almost terminal, if you don't remove it - well, that's the death knell of that coin. But you can remove it, and you can extend the life of that coin for additional generations. How can something like that be said to be wrong or a mistake ? Answer, it can't.

    But, as I said in the beginning, there are some coins that you shouldn't bother trying to dip. Learning how to dip coins correctly, that's one thing, and it's not all that difficult if you have someone who knows how teach you. But learning which ones to dip and which ones not to dip - that's the hard part.

    And even if ya do learn those things, dipping coins is still always going to be a crap shoot. You can never know with any certainty how a coin is going to turn out because it may already be too late. Or, there may be something underneath that toning that will make you wish you hadn't done it. But those are maybes. The one thing you do know with certainty is that if you don't try - destruction is certain.
     
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