Do you Consider a Dipped Coin to Be Cleaned?

I have bought a raw, wonderful Wheat Cent last year, which I showed here in a thread.
Nearly everybody told me "really nice" or "worth to be slabbed by a TPG".
And now?
A coin covered with ugly milky "grime".
A shame in my collection.
So,the coin dealer dipped it before selling.
And the conclusion?
Dipping copper coins can never be harmles.

 

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Can you post what it looks like now?

 

As you know it's not really that black and white. There are boarderline things that can go either way on any given day, but the majority of coins would either grade everytime or not at all

 

I too have a problem with the term "Market Acceptable". I always read it as "Altered to Deceive". If you are dipping coins within your personal collection because you like dipped coins, that's your choice. But on the other hand, if you are dipping coins for a chance at monetary gain, to me, you're not on the good side of "The Hobby" and should be thrown into the same class as a used car salesman.

 

The engineer in me likes to address questions like this by mentally ranking in a scale
what I consider acceptable and what is not regarding cleaning.

My scale looks like this: on the right is best - on the left is worst.



Everyone's scale/notions of what is acceptable or not will be different.

Obviously untouched coins are also my preference. However, carefully acetone-dipped or carefully dipped coins to remove unsightly tarnish can also be quite pleasant.

 

Let me just clarify: acetone is not a dip. "Dips" have a non-neutral pH and will affect the metal of the coin; acetone only affects organic things on the surface. Please make sure the terminology is correct.

Other than that, I like your scale.

 

I agree, physics-fan3.14. It must be my poor english. Let us call it an acetone bath.

(actually, the dual polar/non-polar character of acetone means it will not be as effective in removing organic residues (which tend to be non-polar) as for example xylene, of the lower hydrocarbons like hexane, etc). I use both).

 

I can agree to that

 

An acetone bath is cleaning. It removes debris without altering the coin surface.

 

I think we all agree that an acetone bath is ok most of the time.

I don't have a simple answer Jason but here goes.
When a dip kills the luster, I call it cleaned. When I can't see the results of the dip, I don't.

That leaves a lot of coins that I call, probably cleaned at some point. I see this a lot with older classic coins that should have more toning based on the age of the coin.

 

Of course it is. But there is a difference between cleaning a coin and improperly/harshly cleaning coin. A coin that has been properly dipped or otherwise properly “cleaned” should show no signs of the treatment.

 

Dipping a coin is to remove something to alter its appearance so yes, it's equivalent to cleaning.

 

Like "cleaned", there can be a difference between "dipped" and "improperly dipped".

Can copper be dipped in any way that isn't "improper"? I don't know. Doug says the existence of RD coins from the early 19th century proves that it's possible. I disagree -- I say it's possible for copper to remain red indefinitely if it's stored properly, but I don't know how to prove it for any given coin.

 

My rule of thumb.

If it can not be seen and said to be cleaned then it has not been cleaned no matter what has been done to it.

 

Who knows how many dipped coins are sold to unsuspecting buyers? Hundreds per day, wouldn't you think?