I have 2 Indian Head Pennies and have been kept in great condition, hope the pics are ok. Whatcha think. Btw both have some form of doubling on the reverse lettering "One Cent", though i dont know if its normal. Left top/Bottom is 1901, right top/bottom is 1902
They have both been cleaned and dipped bright orange. The 1901 is a Ch VF while the 1902 is a Ch EF. The cleaning and dipping has brightened them up significantly and this allows the coins to pass as MS or AU to those who do not look closely. They have been significantly boinked. The doubling is common on this series and is known as Longacre doubling.
what do you mean Dipped? Also these were my grandpa's, and he never cleaned them, its possible they were cleaned before i guess, though he collected them in the 50-60's and wasnt it considered OK to clean them back then?. he had rolls of these that he collected, most were much the same in condition.
It's near impossible to dip copper "right". Dipping has been a long practiced procedure of placing a coin in a dilute acidic solution to strip away the outer skin and make the coin brighter. If done properly it is essentially impossible to detect. However, proper dipping is generally achieved on lightly toned, mint state silver. Copper turns an odd color when dipped. Please don't take this the wrong way, but I have met scores of folks who have received coins from relatives where the recipient swears up and down that the coins were never cleaned, or at least never cleaned by their relative, but the coins themselves scream just as loudly that they have been cleaned. It was quite common decades ago to brighten up (clean) coins. This greatly lessens the value of the pieces. It may very well be that your grandfather never cleaned or otherwise dipped a coin, but he managed to find or buy some without realizing they had been manipulated.
I suck at grading but they look very nice. I learn something every time I come here. I've never heard that term before. So would those coins come back from a TPG as 'cleaned' or something other than a regular grade?
Here is one dipped in alcohol, soaked in distilled water over night, then another member soaked in acetone rinsed with distilled water and then BadThad's verdigris remover was then added to remove uncovered verdigris when the crud was removed: http://www.cointalk.com/attachments/215035d1352448722t-cent-1834-1a.jpg That was successful but often times it isn't with coppers. I don't know if this would be considered dipped since no acidic coin solution was used, just the standard liquids people use on their coins. The original intent also differed which was remove tape left on the coin due to improper shipping.
They also could have been cleaned before you grandfather received the coins. Dipped or polished is hard to say from the pictures and the glare. Typically in the Vf and XF range they would be brown.
Copper anything is tough to dip. Oftentimes you don't get the results you're looking for. After numerous experiments, I've seen artificial toning, unnatural color, etc.
