Starting an Ike Collection

Target toning is common on 74 brown Ikes, but not on 73s. Great Collections sells a LOT of toned Ikes. Many of mine came from there. What did you give for the 73? Just curious about dealer pricing. For me, eBay is the main source for pricing. I have to say that I really like the look of yours- the subtle color with minimal haze. I'm like Mont in that I don't really care for haziness, but if the price is right it won't matter.

 

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Paid $29 for the 73. I believe Grey Sheet is $32.

 

A fair price, IMO. The cheapest 73 brown Ike I ever bought was an ANACS slabbed PF67 with beautiful red/brown (root beer) toning. Paid only $19. It was an eBay listing with very dark pictures, and the seller did not include the word SILVER in the title. I'll try to get a pic up later.

 

He has more that are in good shape and I am thinking of going back.

@Ike Skywalker Are you cleaning your Browns too?

 

No, I don't ever clean coins. The one and only time I ever dipped a coin was when I had a Morgan dollar with glue residue left over from being in a buckle. It was a thick chunk covering the entire reverse, but it all dissolved with no problem. The coin was a problem coin no matter what, so it didn't matter. Dipping coins is just not something I want to get into.

 

Understand. How do you find nice Brown Ikes that aren't blue? I would imagine a lot of searching or buying them slabbed already.

 

I actually prefer the blue hue on proof Ikes. There are plenty of toned and non-toned available. The proofs in my registry set are all stark white DCAM, even the 74. I just prefer toning.

 

I know the other Ike guys here clean their silver proofs. I dipped my 71 and will dip my 73. Guess I'll look for some nice specimens in their brown Box.

 

Ike, were they already slabbed when you bought the coins in your registry set?

 

Yes. I have never sent anything to PCGS for grading, but I did send some Morgans and Peace dollars to NGC a few years ago. I have found that it is much cheaper to buy coins already slabbed. Here is that 73-S I mentioned earlier. It's really hard to photograph colorful proofs in slabs....

 

The reason I asked is this:

If you bought them already slabbed, and they are all bright white, then they may have been dipped by the person who had them slabbed.

 

That certainly is a possibility, but to tell you the truth I couldn't tell either way. The TPG don't seem to notice either. I think dipping proofs is generally acceptable, correct?

FWIW, I do have 71-74 proofs in OGP that are all white, with no hints of toning. So they are out there. I guess they were optimally stored over the years.

 

I didn't clean this one!


Or this one.



I only dip them if the hazing is really bad and they are going in for grading.

 

Good to know they are out there. I was beginning to think they were all blue.

 

Yes. Dipping proofs is generally acceptable unless they have good toning on them.
Then, it's a major sin.

 

I've been stressing this point for a while now. If the dipping is done correctly you can't tell and neither can the TPG.

 

@Ike Skywalker @19Lyds

This is so addicting collecting Ikes. Now I can see how the collection can get so big with multiple sets and several spares of each.

 

Agreed, Lee. A nicely toned coin should remain nicely toned. The problem with Ikes and other 1970s proofs is the haze which will eventually turn into surface damage on the coin.

I have asked Ike collectors if they have slabbed toned Ikes (from PCGS or NGC) and I haven't seemed to find any. Now, while I don't doubt that they may exist, I believe that the vast majority have been saved from the haze by dipping them.

 

They're cool coins, Bman

 

Absolutely. I think that dipping, when correctly done, can save proofs from future surface damage. This is a good thing. If I found out that my graded proofs were dipped it wouldn't bother me. As I said, I can't tell anyway.