Dilemma -Dip or not - Pedigree coin

clackamas · June 13, 2003 5:17AM

Just got a 1944-S Jefferson in MS66FS. It is of Benson Pedigree, the toning is not that attractive nor heavy. Underneath are literally mark free surfaces and great luster, IMO a no brianer 67FS. IMO PCGS gave is a 66FS because of the toning being slightly negative but not bad. Should I crack and dip it? I loose the pedigree but would probably gain a top POP (17) coin worth far more. I would like to keep the pedigree and an upgrade but I can't have both. It's my 44-S for my #3 war nick registry set.

Dilemma -

GaCoinGuy · June 13, 2003 5:25AM

Me personally, I'd leave it......I've heard alot of people say that nickels don't dip well. Or send it to HRH for review

clackamas · June 13, 2003 5:36AM

I like the HRH review Idea. I could state my case - I could dip this coin - which I don't want to do and get the 67 but...

BTW since its a 44-S its a silver war nick and they dip well although I hate doing it.

wondercoin · June 13, 2003 6:01AM

There are hundreds and hundreds of those Jeffs with Benson pedigree. You can buy another pedigree coin without any problem I would imagine. They were being sold (or actualy not sold) in lots of 10 or 20 coins per date (sometimes 10 per grade and there were MS65, MS66, MS65FS and MS66FS lots). I believe many lots never even received the opening bid (I was in the bidding room). IMHO, that pedigree on the Jeff is a "nonstarter"

Wondercoin

clackamas · June 13, 2003 6:31AM

Wondercoin - Actually I did by a lot of 4 MS66FS jeffs. This particular coin however was clearly the nicest of the 4 I purchased.

wondercoin · June 13, 2003 6:42AM

Cool. I was just mentioning why I personally didn't give much weight to the Benson pedigree on Jeff war nickels. I wouldn't hesitate to crack them out.

The auction company chose to slab the rolls of Benson Jeffs this time, as opposed to last auction where they sold off all the fresh rolls of Lincoln cents raw. Those Lincoln cents yielded huge money - I was bidding up to 10x Grey Sheet for them. I spent close to $20,000 on the rolls I bought and I probably only won 1/4 - 1/3 of them all!!! The slabbed Jeffs on the other hand resulted in about 1/2 hour of pure "dead time" in the auction room, where most lots did not obtain even the opening bid, best I could tell. Also, many of the coins were in slabs of virtually no true numismatic value, such as non-FS MS65 and MS66 slabbed common war nickels.

Wondercoin

onlyroosies · June 13, 2003 6:48AM

I say crack and dip. Thats a tough date in 67FS. If it was mine it would have already been done.

jbsteven · June 13, 2003 8:25AM

since there are so many I say crack and dip

If you run across any Mercury dimes with the Benson/Eliasberg (or any other pedigree) pedigree SEND THEM TO ME! I am building a merc set with pedigrees, toned or pop top blast white no bands.

fcloud · June 13, 2003 8:41AM

Don't do it! Too many coins are ruined by dipping! You think your doing something good the next thing you know you possible 67 becomes returned in a body bag!

tradedollarnut · June 13, 2003 9:31AM

The Benson pedigree ain't worth squat - no problem in losing that. The way to approach the question from a financial aspect is: what's your upside, what's your downside and what are the odds of success? If you can handle the thought of turning your 66 into a 64 and the ratios work out, then go for it! It's not like you are potentially trashing an irreplaceable national treasure! [can you imagine having the guts to dip the Amon Carter 1794 dollar?????]

pontiacinf · June 13, 2003 8:34PM

imagine having the guts to dip the Amon Carter 1794 dollar?????]

yes Bruce... --> Id be stupid enough to do so

Robgetty · June 14, 2003 3:24PM

OK, I'll confess my ignorance on this thread. I thought the whole purpose of having
coins slabbed by PCGS or NGC was that collectors like me who can't easily detect an
altered coin don't have to worry; they know the coin is original.
By the tone of the thread, I see I am living in a fantasy world. How much cleaning, etc.
happens in the real world, and how does it get past the PCGS graders?

fcloud · June 14, 2003 9:58PM

Robert,

Many coins in PCGS holders are dipped. They reject harsh cleaning. Dipping has been acceptable in the coin collecting world for many years and I don't see that changing. A silver coin dipped a time or two is undetectable. From what I have read, it takes about 10 to 12 dips to strip the luster/flowmarks from a coin. When you see an old super bright coin in a holder the chances are good it have been dipped; however, there is still a chance it is original. I sent a coin to PCGS for grading, they put a fingerprint on it, I returned the coin to them, and they removed the fingerprint (my guess would be they dipped it).

Harsh cleaning would be like dipping a coin and rubbing it with a cloth. That would leave hairlines. Other harsh cleaning could be scraping a carbon spot off with a tooth pick, or whizzing (polishing with a Dreamel tool or some other high speed buffing process).

PCGS grades problem free coins. And dipping (conserving) is okay with the service if done properly, and not done to strip the originality of the metal from the coin. Over stripping leaves a coin dull and lusterless.

Hope that helps.

Tony

grip · June 15, 2003 9:33AM

Dip it,The Benson pedigree ain't worth any more than my name..It may have never been dipped ,and may well look great.Al

clackamas · September 22, 2003 11:10AM

Cracked, and reluctantly dipped. It was worth it the toning hid just wonderful luster. PCGS agreed and the coin went from a 66FS to a POP 18 67FS.

jbsteven · September 22, 2003 12:22PM

nice score

grip · September 23, 2003 6:18AM

Congrats on the 7.Al

ScarsdaleCoin · September 25, 2003 12:32PM

you can always dip but you cant always have pedigree....would not dip it...
but actually if you dip you still have pedigree as it is still the Benson coin...

jonesy · October 3, 2003 11:30PM

Way to go!!!

LincolnCentMan · October 4, 2003 1:41PM

crack it...

David

Dilemma -Dip or not - Pedigree coin

Comments