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Message:: [QUOTE="GDJMSP, post: 2888792, member: 112"]You started out with this, and then you said this - So I've got a question for you. Which came first ? Were you thinking that you wanted to lighten it up before you asked your friend his opinion ? Or was it his opinion that made you think about lightening up the color ? The reason I'm asking the question is this, ever hear the old saying "beauty lies in the eye of the beholder" ? Well to a large degree I think that's what's going on here. Some collectors prefer their coins "white" and some people prefer their coins "toned". In other words it's a chocolate and vanilla thing - a matter of taste. Now some might argue that there is no right or wrong in this, that everyone is entitled to like what they like. Yet others will argue that is not the case at all and that it should only be this way or that way - white or toned. This argument, this decision about which is "better", has been going on for a couple of centuries now. And it is not likely to go away. Personally, I like coins both ways, but it depends on the coin. And when it comes to deciding if a coin should be dipped or not I do not make my judgement based on my likes or dislikes, I make my decision based on whether or not the coin needs to be dipped. Some may not understand that, some may even say that could never be the case that there is no such thing as a coin that "needs" to be dipped. But I strongly disagree with that sentiment. I say that because there are cases, examples of coins, when the toning is so advanced that unless the coin is dipped the coin will literally be destroyed by the toning. So by dipping the coin you are protecting the coin, literally extending its life. In these cases by dipping the coin you are making things better. Then there are those coins when dipping the coin is not going to help anything, in fact it may even make things worse. This concept is what SuperDave was trying to explain, did explain. But not everybody gets it. And when they don't it's usually because they like their coins this way or they like their coins that way - white or toned. For them that is the only deciding factor. So where does that leave us ? Well, that's a good question I suppose. But over the years I have found that those who allow personal likes or dislikes to answer the question do so because they have limited experience when it comes to dipping a coin. And because they have limited experience they have a hard time foreseeing how things are going to turn out if a given coin is dipped. They can't look at a given coin and know what to reasonably expect if you dip it. And that's kind of the thing, nobody ever does know for sure. They may have reasonable expectations but it is never a given - dipping a coin, any coin, every coin, is always a crap shoot. You can never be 100% certain what's going to happen, how it is going to turn out. Given that, what does one do ? For me the solution is quite simple - only buy coins that you already like, just exactly as they are. Do that and you'll never have to ask yourself these questions - let alone answer them. And what does one do if and when one finds oneself in this predicament - finding out that you don't quite like a coin as it is, after you've already bought it ? Well again, to me, the solution is quite simple. You either sell the coin or trade it for one that you do like. Do that and you don't have to do anything to the coin. You don't even have to consider the questions anymore. I find these two simple solutions quite elegant because in the end everybody ends up happy <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]

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