Dipping advice for new collectors?
MojaveGhost
Posts: 71 ✭✭✭
I've been hesitant to try my hand at dipping and wanted to get a few opinions on some raw Morgans that I inherited last year. Most of them look like the 1885 below. I like that type of toning and plan to leave them strictly alone. Some are darkly toned like the first 1886 and I wonder what could be lurking beneath, so will likely use 100% acetone to remove surface debris and leave it at that. The third coin just looks chalky. Not sure if it was the victim of over-zealous dipping at some point, but my thinking was that I can't make it look much worse, so I may use it as a guinea pig after practicing on constitutional silver culls.
Any general suggestions? Do you prefer MS 70, eZest or some other product? 
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I'd leave the 85 alone with the rim toning. The 1st 86 looks like it might have dip residue and another dip will do more harm then good. The 2nd 86 might use an acetone bath.
Practice on inexpensive coins until you get the hang of it because you can really screw things up fast.
Glad I asked. She cleaned up pretty well.
I like the 85 as is too. I think both of the 86s could benefit from some MS70. I dont think dipping either would get the results you are looking for as they already look dipped out. I have had really good results with MS70 rolled on with a cotton swab carefully with high grade AU coins to mint state. Anything below AU53 looks bad afterwards. Just be sure to hold on to the coins well as they can get quite slippery with MS70 all over it. Nitrile gloves help too! They are not crazy expensive coins if they get messed up. Be sure to post some before-and-after images. Looks like you already have good photography skills!
Leave the 85 alone. The toning on that coin looks good
Thanks. I need to invest in a good macro lens and copy stand because my photos are hit and miss. The one is just took is abysmal, for instance, but hey, the acetone brought out the luster at least.
My advice is to NOT dip collector coins.
Dave
MS70 is a cleaner (golf ball range). It does not have too much (if any) effect on silver surfaces. Roll your Q-Tip and rinse well. EZ-Est is an acid. This is how coins get screwed up with "repeated dipping". Each EZ-Est bath removes metal, and soon the reflective high points are eaten away. That first dip might do magic and take away detritus or haze. Successive dips as a coin moves down the collector line? Bingo -- goodbye luster.
The temptation is always, "Will this be the first dip, and if I am REALLY careful, dip it for a short period of time, rinse well, and pay my tithing . . . will I change this 'blech' coin into a gem?"
Hard to say. Each coin, series, and metal is different . . .
Drunner
I can respect that approach.
Haze is the issue for me. The 85 that I dipped in acetone must've had PVC residue on it, because it came right off. I thought PVC was green. Live and learn.
Take a variety of coins made of differing metals that are of low value (i.e. junk silver, copper, nickel, etc.), both MS, circulated, Proof and SP. Read up on coin cleaning/dipping. The experiment on these coins with different cleaning agents to see what results you can get.
Over time doing this will provide you with knowledge gained through experience. Armed with this knowledge you will be able to make better decisions and obtain better results when you graduate to the level of cleaning/dipping collectable coins.
Good luck.
If you are just trying to remove any surface film that is dulling the luster, try soaking them in acetone. It won't damage the silver and it won't remove the toning.
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Thanks everyone. I do think the acetone helped, although the coin is still pretty ugly.
I like the toning on the 85, I'd leave it alone
If I owned that coin, I would give it a two second dip in eZest.
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Don
I'm going to order both eZest and MS 70, then I'll do a lot of experimentation on low value silver before I attempt anything with a Morgan dollar.
The gold album toning is very nice IMO and I'm not touching it. My only concern is that one of the coins has terminal toning, so I may remove all the coins and store them in capsules.
I only use 100% pure acetone keeps the coin looking original and takes off any potential PVC. There is no need for any other dips with other products in my opinion. But like you I learned after trying other ways and in the end acetone is the best.
Get a glass bottle and metal lid (make sure there is no plastic inside the lid) or glass lid and do each side with fresh acetone for a few hours and then clean the glass bottle with fresh acetone. I rinse my coins with fresh acetone as well once both sides have been done.
You can't ruin a coin with acetone baths. Unless you rub the coin.
I have never used MS70, so I will defer to the ones who have on that.
I have used E-Zest in the past with great success on proof coins (never used it on MS coins). For the proofs, I would use a roughly 50-50 mix of E-Zest and distilled water, followed by a quick swish in pure acetone, and a final rinse with distilled water (usually hot to speed drying time) and pat dry with a soft cloth (do not rub).
I never let the coins sit in the E-Zest/distilled water more than about 15-20 seconds (usually much less than that would do the trick).
Definitely practice on some lower value coins.
If I owned coin #3 I would dip a Qtip in E-zest and do a quick swipe&rinse on the dark part of her cheeks and see if that darkness come off.
if it does, try the same approach on the darkness I see on the bottom 1/3 of the obverse.
At very little risk, You might end up revealing a nice MS coin!
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I like that idea. It turned out to be a better coin than I initially thought. Here's the reverse.
I personally dip hazy coins and ones with fingerprints. Only after trying acetone, though.
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Quick question……I bought a nice 1931-S Lincoln from a rather highly respected coin house 30 years ago….and when I sent it in for grading, PCGS slabbed and graded it as ‘questionable color’ …….. At this point it is like an embarrassing junk coin to me. Would acetone, E-Z-EST, or MS70 get the color back to a normal color for resubmission? Thanks….. BTW, it looks like any other brown Lincoln I’ve ever seen which has me scratching my head….
No chemicals will restore true original (i.e., gradable) color.
No worries:
Brown is a good color for copper, plus it’s in a PCGS holder, therefore guaranteed authentic.
As is, ir should be easily salable.
30+ years coin shop experience (ret.) Coins, bullion, currency, scrap & interesting folks. Loved every minute!
Good advice to me. I have three Sac dollars with rust like reverses setting in acetone now. Will not rub when I take them out tomorrow.
I've seen even experienced long term dealers make silver coins worse with eZ-est. There's "Conserv" which is a petro based product, smells like Turpentine and will remove junk on the surface without negatively impacting the metal. eZ-est works only with some coins usually unc. ones that are darkly toned and never been dipped and fully original, so dark that there is little argument not to conserve. However, PCGS and NGC have the best chemicals and methods, whether they are diluted baths of what we use or special methods. Even Anacs and ICG do conservation now. MS70 seems to help with some coins, others here understand what it does better, but again you can't put the genie back in the bottle so when in doubt don't take the chance. There was a better MS70 made with a now banned chemical. A lot of coins benefit by surface dirt and originality that you don't want to fool with.
Thanks!
I might consider third party conservation for a few of the CCs with dark ugly toning.
Dilute with distilled water. 70%/30%.
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So, I've been working on my dipping technique and recently graduated to Morgan dollars. I'm interested to know if they now scream "Details, cleaned." Thanks for any input.
I advise to NOT dip coins. But, if you do... practice on very inexpensive silver coins (think ugly toned mint/proofs from the 1960s or foreign coins). Make sure you do not overdip and rise those coins very throughly with water afterward and pat dry.
Never dip copper. You are almost certain to ruin the coin.
I am a newer collector (started April 2020), and I primarily focus on U.S. Half Cents and Type Coins. Early copper is my favorite.
That's pretty much what I did after originally posting this topic. I practiced on a lot of junk before I felt comfortable dipping a Morgan dollar, even a common date coin. The end result looks okay to me, but I'm still new at this and may be missing something. Here's a before and after of the 1886 I posted upthread, dipped for 5 secs in EZ EST, rinsed thoroughly with distilled water and patted dry with a soft towel:
Wow
Great result on the 86
Spit......dog spit if you have one but.....I haven't ever tongued a silver dollar before and well, there's a few things out there I'd ever try once!
Leo
The more qualities observed in a coin, the more desirable that coin becomes!
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Unless you have had a lot of experience and have gotten to know where dipping can improve a coin and where it might make things worse, my advice is don't.
There are some collectors, like me, who often prefer the undipped surfaces, although I don't think that way about all coins. The trouble with dipping is that it can't be reversed.
Good perspective. I hesitated for quite a while, but ultimately decided that dipping was a skill that I should probably learn if I was going to be serious about the hobby. I appreciate the fact that everyone here was willing to give helpful advice on how to go about it even with the caveat that I might be better off leaving the coins alone.
Sometimes toning is not tarnish and acetone will remove it. War jeffs are notorious for this in Capitol plastics holders.
I do not feel I have ever improved a coin by dipping, and some were worse afterwards.
I'm sure that a practiced or lucky collector might get the desired result, but I gave up years ago.
If nothing else, dipping a few coins taught me that I'm not a fan of the blast white look. I may look back on this as a numismatic rite of passage.
SImple rule for me ... don't. Find a coin you like without dipping. Plenty are out there.
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Don't clean coins.
Dave
I agree as far as purchases are concerned. I inherited the coins I dipped.
TomB taught me many, many, many years ago on the OSOTS, to appreciate an original “skin.” That being said nowadays I appreciate blast white. And that being my preference I look for coins already in that condition. Now, could some of mine have been dipped? Yes! But I also try to find something that’s been slabbed for a while which I hope shows that the surface is stable and if it was dipped, it was done “correctly.” Therefore, I leave those original skinned coins alone for someone who appreciates that state more than I do.
Having fun while switching things up and focusing on a next level PCGS slabbed 1950+ type set, while still looking for great examples for the 7070.
There’s no comparison between the pre and post dipped coin. Surely you don’t prefer the former.