In the current environment, are nicely toned coins being dipped?

Higashiyama

With PCGS and NGC being quite conservative with respect to the slabbing of toned coins, and the advent of NCS, are nicely toned coins being dipped to the detriment of future generations?

FC57Coins

Good question Higashiyama - here's the dilema that I am faced with... I've purchased about 15 toned morgans that I feel are genuinely toned, and I've sent them to NGC for certification, because I feel that this is the only way that I'll be able to tell one way or the other for sure. In addition, if I ever hope to sell any of these, the same question about whether they're real or not would come up. Now, let me qualify this by saying too, that I had the good fortune to talk about this subject with about 6 dealers during a particularly slow span of time at a recent show here in Alabama, and when discussing toned coins, they were in as much of a quandry as any of the rest of us. So, back to the discussion. Because of the fact that I've tried to purchase coins that were nicely toned but have been paying only (I think) slightly above ask for the technical grade, my only other option to possibly recoup my investment at sometime in the future would be to dip those that come back as artificially toned. We'll see what happens in about 3 weeks. Until then I'll leave you with a picture of one of them.

Frank

GQ

I just got back a few Jeffersons I sent in. All medium toned gold with rainbow targets.....they look like opals. Lock solid MS66's or better. They gave me MS65 on all of them. I would have to think that the tone was a deduction. I have several MS65s and these are not MS65s. Oh well.....I learned my lesson.....I slabbed them because of eye appeal, not a number.

Enjoy your coins.....

crito

are nicely toned coins being dipped to the detriment of future generations?

I doubt that seriously. Even raw attractively toned coins fetch a premium compared to their white counterparts. If anything, the opposite is happening. Original white coins are still being artificially toned, to the detriment of future generations of collectors. Some people go to great lengths to justify the practice, but that's what's really happening.

shouldn't be a toned vs white debate IMO, that's for business people trying to market their products. a collector should be more concerned about the long-term well-being of the coin. Dip and patination chemicals can both cause permanent damage.

dorkkarl

<< <i>are nicely toned coins being dipped to the detriment of future generations? >>

definitely, but it's nothing new. i wouldn't blame it on pcgs & ngc, but on uninformed collectors who think that coins must look "blast-white" to be high grade.

K S

crito

if only dipped coins were being artificially toned.... and if only artificially toned coins were being dipped... but that's not what's happening. Ask any "coin doctor" and they'll tell you they look for coins with "original skin" to AT. Similarly, most of the toned coins that get dipped have natural toning, which usually appears dark and somewhat unattractive... not like the iridescent sulphur monsters fetching big premiums on eBay.

It's original white and naturally toned coins that need protection