Why do people dip coins?!?

maybe 80 percent of au and above coins have been dipped, but i think that percentage is far lower for well circulated coins

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Yea the overall percentage is quite low if you include copper given the absolute glut of cull Indians and Lincolns ect, but if you exclude things like that or just focus on a series like bust halfs or seated series the percentage starts to climb pretty fast on better pieces.

He's definitely right though that pretty much everyone has some coins that have been dipped before even the most anti dip collectors.

 

Copper looks terrible when dipped, so i assume it's not done a lot like you say. Everytime i go on ebay i see some guy selling dipped AU indians selling for 30-40 or more. The pics look terrible but people keep bidding on his coins. What a sham

 

interesting. so i assume they must dilute the dip a lot and do quick baths. Come to think of it, one could experiment very easily with all the cents out there. If i only had time i might experiment and see if what you say is true. I always thought those late indians and early lincolns just stayed in great shape. You dont see a lot of reds further back, like mid to low 1800s. Perhaps there's a limit how far back copper can be treated

 

By the way, i see this same guy every night or so on ebay selling xf/au indians that were dipped crudely. It's so obvious theyre cleaned so im surprised he always has takers. He takes pics of each one at the same angle, and they all have the same terrible discoloration. Pisses me off what he's doing

 

Some silver coins tone very dark, almost black and I don't blame people for dipping them so they can see what the coin looks like.

 

i think coins are a lost cause at that point. If really dark, i think dipping would either ruin or lighten them up a little. What i despise though is turning coins blast white, which probably cant occur when toning is first really dark or terminal

 

I picked up a rare 1820's Italian silver coin and it has XF details but the toning is almost black. When it's in a flip all you see is black. With a flashlight you can see the nice details. This is the kind of coin that could look better with a dip.

 

good to know, thanks!

 

you're right. i'm going to experiment some day. I got some like that

 

Generally, if you see a silver coin over 80 years old with no toning whatsoever, it’s a safe bet that the coin has been dipped. There are exceptions, such as Morgans stored in bank vaults for decades.

 

But i think you should add that's more true for unc coins, like all those blast whites that some rave about. For circulated coins with little toning, im sure most were cleaned by other methods like wiping and polishing

 

No