why would anyone take a chance on dipping this incredibly rare coin? This is from Oct 2014 but is worth reposting. http://www.coinweek.com/auctions-ne...organ-silver-dollar-646250-auction-las-vegas/
When the coin got "conserved" and subsequently down graded shouldn't it have received a details grade improperly cleaned? The coin grades MS67 and it needs conserving? Who was the genius that thought that was a good idea?
I wrote to an eBay seller of silver dollars a few years ago. He called these raw dollars BU. Some were no better than F, but all were shiny as hell. A close view revealed abrasion like done with Comet® cleaner! He told me that he knew it, but that the coins sold MUCH better like that. Sad, ain't it? You always hurt the one you love....
I'm shocked! Jack lee was a friend of mine and held the absolute greatest collection of Morgans ever attempted, he would punch the guy in the head for doing this and he was t a small guy. I can't believe NCS didn't pass on working on that coin.
I thought it might help to clarify a couple of things. The coin talked about in the article that was just purchased for $646 thousand plus is the Eliasberg-Sunnywood-Simpson coin, it is graded MS65. It is not the Norweb coin. This is the best picture of it I can find - http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=...d=0CCAQMygFMAVqFQoTCJPRobDA2MYCFYkcPgodfjcA3w This is the Norweb coin, after it was conserved, and offered for auction in 2008, it did not sell. http://coins.ha.com/itm/morgan-dollars/silver-and-related-dollars/1893-s-1-ms67-ngc/a/1104-2366.s This is the Norweb coin when it was offered and sold in 2011 - http://coins.ha.com/itm/morgan-dollars/silver-and-related-dollars/1893-s-1-ms67-ngc/a/1158-7332.s The Norweb coin has since been downgraded and put in an NGC MS66 slab. Unfortunately, even after searching, I cannot find any pictures of the Norweb coin before it was dipped. But if anyone has a copy of the original 1988 catalog perhaps they can share with us. Or if anyone knows of a link to such pictures, please share.
That isn't the prettiest toning that I've ever seen, but it looks completely dead now. It's MUCH nicer than mine though.
Nobody would give that "conservation" a second thought if the coin wasn't the key date. If we did, throw out half the Morgan Dollars, maybe more.
No maybe about it. If not having been previously dipped was a necessary qualification you have to throw out about 80% of them. Of course the same thing is true of all older coins.
It's sad that happens. 100 to 200 years of a natural reaction gone in ten seconds. Unless a coin's toning is beyond butt ugly, I don't think it's worth dipping.
Conserving makes sense....sometimes. If a high$$$ coin has schmutz clinging here and there .. I mean sticky, gum-like crud, often black...I'll consider it. On Morgans, that crud often clings to Denticals. Will I bother doing so with a 65-66 grade 81-S Morgan ? No. I'll "DIY." My dealer/buddy Ricky B can do this for me. He has an conservation assembly line, set up for proof coins. How about an 89-CC Morgan, unquestionably MS, noise-level suggesting a 3 or 4, but...some gummy crud and a patch of dark, ugly toning....both of which are in prominent, obverse locations. Yup. This one goes to the pros.
I am totally opposed to conservation of coins, unless there is some potential "terminal" damage on the coin. Toning that is not one's taste is not terminal damage. Would I even think about it in a high grade key coin such as the 93s? No way that I would in any way touch the surfaces of said coin. If one doesn't find it attractive, then it would not sell. I find overdipped coins made to look like blast White Morgans unattractive. Keep it real, and keep it original.
