Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 67224, member: 57463&quot;]The first case is grade inflation and it is a real problem.&nbsp; The brand new ANA grading guide has backed off on the standard definitions of grade in some cases (Full Horm for VF on a Buffalo Nickel, for instance).&nbsp; This is not a new phenomenon. </p><p><br /></p><p>There was a time when there were four grades and no &quot;About Uncirculated&quot; between Very Fine and Mint State -- and nothing higher than Mint State: Unc was Unc.&nbsp; But that was 100 years ago and in 1905 despite the writings of one numismatist, no one collected by Mint marks, just years.</p><p><br /></p><p>You can expect to see the grades between VF-20 and VF-39 get filled in with intermediate numbered examples being offered.</p><p><br /></p><p>Your second statement is a bit curious.&nbsp; Technically, you are correct dipping a coin is cleaning it.&nbsp; However, we do not recognize it that way.&nbsp; It is true that an over-dipped coin loses its luster.&nbsp; Still, Jeweluster or the equivalent is not considered harmful to a Mint State coin.&nbsp; I disagree, but I do not define the markets.</p><p><br /></p><p>As for dipping and other forms of &quot;coin doctoring,&quot; I believe that in the near future, these alternations are going to be apparent via new technology and training.&nbsp; For instance, there was a time when collectors varnished their coins.&nbsp; Then, they cleaned them with a &quot;harmless&quot; pencil eraser.&nbsp; Then, they </p><p>&quot;dipped&quot; them in acid. Then &quot;professional conservators&quot; restored them. At every point, coins damaged with the old methods were discounted.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>The new technology and training will be laboratory grade instrumentation today made cheaper tomorrow.&nbsp; We accept binocular microscopes and gram scales as common tools, but they were professional scientific instruments in a previous generation.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Never do anything to &quot;improve&quot; a coin.&nbsp; The more natural the surfaces, the more money the coin will fetch.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in