Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="SuperDave, post: 2395148, member: 1892"]We can't even settle on a definition of "dip," for cryin' out loud. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> If we stipulate the definition of "dip" to involve the use of thiourea or a similar chemical to strip the coin's surfaces, then yes, it's probably possible to strip a coin and restore it to a look which would pass muster with 95% of collectors. If you start with a Mint State coin having unmarred surfaces whose patina is perfectly even, so that the stripped surfaces are themselves perfectly even. No variance in patina pre-stripping, no crud interrupting the patina process so that some areas "aged" to a different degree than others. No circulation wear having altered the microscopic character of the surface in some areas more than others. In other words, you could probably do it if you did it to a coin which didn't need it in the first place. The biggest problem is not stripping the surfaces. The real problem is creating a realistic color afterward. The only appropriate application for such a process, then, is in turning a Brown coin back to Red, and stripping it is not the way to approach that problem.[/QUOTE]