Dipped proofs

tracker

Besides morals, what keeps people from dipping proofs and peddling them as high grade business strikes?

Russ

If you dip a proof long enough to strip the surface that much, the cleaning becomes pretty obvious. The dip will create micro-pitting in the surfaces.

Russ, NCNE

tracker

What about the inexperienced purchasing coins on eBay, etc...? A dipped pr66 can easily pass for a higher grade business strike. The typical scan generally won't reflect micro pitting. I was just curious how many people may have fallen for this trick. Show a coin without contact marks and wear, I don't think a lot of people would ever consider it may be a dipped proof.

prooflike

If you are going to blow a lot of money on a high grade business strike, buy it slabbed. Problem solved.

IF you blow a wad of money on a raw coin sight unseen from a stranger on the internet, be prepared to be ripped off.

DRG

Actually a well dipped proof coin looks like a nice untoned proof not anything like a business strike. A damaged proof looks like a damaged proof. Even a circulated proof still looks like a proof coin. It would be just about impossible for any proof to be made to look like a business strike coin. The only exception that I know of is the Special Mint Sets of 1965 - 1967. These coins can be confused for business stikes but then they are not actually proof coins.

Conder101

Well at least on modern proofs, if you dip them enough to really dull the mirror surfaces it still won't look like a high grade business strike because it would have a dead lifeless look instead of the flashy cartwheel lustre that it would need to rate the high MS rating. Modern proofs do not have luster and you can't give it to them by dipping. Now it might be possible for this to happen on some nineteenth century proofs which weren't struck well and do often look like business strikes.

Twowood

<< <i>If you dip a proof long enough to strip the surface that much, the cleaning becomes pretty obvious. The dip will create micro-pitting in the surfaces.

Russ, NCNE >>




Russ; "micro-pitting"...Are they the tiny black dots that I find on my Peace dollars under a magnifier? I assume they can't be removed?
Twowood