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Message:: [QUOTE="benveniste, post: 915446, member: 25547"]As a collector, I don't see where I have to worry about having an "excuse" to deal with my coins as I please. It's a truism that there's always a market for anything, so yes, there are probably collectors who covet that exact look even in the Classic Commemorative Series.  At least for that series, I've never met one, but can be attributed to limited sample size.   But the corallary is that more collectors prefer brighter commemoratives.  Supply and demand determines profit, and if there wasn't profit to be had dealers wouldn't bother to dip anything.  The number of improperly cleaned Lafayettes out there speaks to that far more eloquently than I ever could. As for "Crustie Busties," I own one or two of those, plus other dark 19th and even 18th century coins.  Since the toning is appropriate for the age and wear of the coins, they're safe, even though a trip to NCS would probably increase the value of the 1861-O half by 30-40%. Why did I buy the Lafayette in the first place?  The short answer is "Photoshop."  Coin photographs get doctored far more often than the coins themselves, and I've gotten caught more than once.  Once I had the coin in hand, I faced a choice.  I could return the coin and eat shipping both ways.  Or I could keep a coin with a technical grade of MS-64 in an MS-63 holder and decide what to do later. I hope you never face the same choice.[/QUOTE]