I was at my favorite coin shop today and was watching the dealer preparing a couple of coins to be dipped, so I showed interest in knowing his process. He would use jewel luster on mint silver by placing the coin in the container and turning the container upside down and right side up for about ten seconds, than he would rinse the coin with faucet water and told me that the key to protecting the coin is to wash it than with an Ivory soap bar, rinsing with faucet water, than pat drying with a paper towel... I inquired if a coin put through this process would still pass through the tpg's fine even with the soap treatment and he said he has never had a problem and that it protects the coin? Any thoughts on all this?
I would say that the coin did look blast white BU after the process.. LOL The thing that gets me here is that this isn't some hole in the wall, nowhere store. This is an older coin collector, that has a large inventory, attends coin shows and meeting, makes deals with many other dealers as well as having a decent clientèle. He also knows a lot about coins and it is obvious to me that he has been collecting coins since well before I was born
When I first learned about coins from a collector (1967), he instructed me on cleaning them-- "Do not use a pencil-tip eraser to clean your coins-- Instead use a stand-alone eraser, because the metal on the pencil-tip eraser can scratch the coin". Of course, after a few attempts at shining up common pennies in this way, I came to the conclusion that it was better to leave the coins "unerased".
I'm no chemist but I know that soap is a surfactant: it lowers the surface tension of water, enabling it to carry away more impurities from the surface of something. I'm guessing this dealer is using it for this reason and is choosing Ivory because he believes it's relatively pure.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns...-is-99-and-44-100-pure-whats-the-other-56-100 Ivory seems to be 99.44% fatty acids and alkali ( normal for soap), and you can read the article for the remaining .56%. If all rinsed off, I can't see it doing any more damage than the acid dip Jewel luster that preceded it. I would wash with Ivory, but not with Jewel luster
10 seconds in Jewel Luster would ruin any unc coin and completely remove any luster the coin had. Soap ? Soap is a no-no on any coin.
Maybe it was 4-6 seconds, I didn't stop watch it He put it in, sealed the lid, and turned it upside down to right side up about 3 times than took it out and rinsed the coin the the sink, than applying the soap to his hands and giving the coin a rub down in his soapy hands, than a final good rinse of the coin and hands, than he pat dried the coin with a paper towel. The coin is a Morgan and it looked blast white when finished, with full cartwheel effect.
He also explained that a mint state coin can not be dipped more than twice, and that dipping would only help mint state or close to mint state coins. others it would flat out ruin.
I have already stated that I have no interest in purchasing these coins, as the only coins that he would wish to dip to improve the return grade or value of are U.S. coins, and my focus on collecting is Foreign coins. I am just curious if it is true that this treatment aforementioned is safe for coins if done correctly and if such coins would still be considered undamaged/collectible/TP-Gradable? and if this treatment would truly be in the best interest of preserving coins?
I am interested because I have many coins with plenty of luster, but hideous toning. I also have coins with slight soil or dirt build up that I wish to know if they may be saved and deemed collectible by some method. Another example is a French 1 Franc that I have from 1866 that is in AU condition, but somehow in all of its time it has become completely black. The details are very well preserved and intact and it is a wonderful coin... but will the black destroy or break it down in the future, can it be conserved? is it even gradable as is, or can it be conserved in such away that it would be gradable? Questions like this.
Here is the Franc Here is the Franc I mentioned. Should it be conserved in some way so that it may last longer. Or would it be best to place in an AirTite and that would be enough to preserve it as is?
OK here's the deal. When you use Jewel Luster you dip the coin for about 1 second max. Any longer than that and you will strip away any and all luster the coin may have. So there is no way you could put a coin in a container, close the container, and turn the container over a time or two without ruining the coin completely. So either you don't understand what luster is - or this guy is not using what he is telling you he is using. Now as for the soap - no knowledgeable coin dealer or knowledgeable collector is ever going to handle any Unc coin in the manner you describe. They all know better. Yeah there are some who will use soap to clean coins, but they sure won't rub it around in their fingers ! And no Unc coin ever treated in the way you describe would ever be graded by either NGC or PCGS. At best they would get a Details (NGC) or Genuine (PCGS) slab. As for your French coin, put it in an Air-Tite and leave it alone.
When I joined cointalk I was informed never try to clean a coin, that it really hurts the value That is what I practice , I learned this among other things
