To dip or not to dip?

BigGreek

The reverse is a the more accurate representation as far as
color and light is concerned (sorry for the poor pictures, this
is my first attempt). The coin appears to have lots of luster
under the tone (which is just bordering on unattractive). The
coin is in an ACG holder (I know, I know) and are graded
MS-64.

The question is: do you dip it or do you leave it?

http://www.appledor.net/tsillas/1921PeaceObv.jpg
http://www.appledor.net/tsillas/1921PeaceRev.jpg

Cladiator

tjkillian

I would say too much wear to dip. Any circulated coin that is dipped looks too unnatural, i.e. cleaned.

Tom

ealandg

Don't dip.

BigGreek

This is a 1921 (high relief). No wear on this coin. Luster is
all there but the strike is typically weak over the hair and
a few other places. I guess my question is: Would it be more
attactive as a white coin or a toned coin?

XpipedreamR

The coin actually looks pretty good to me. You have to wonder why it's in an ACG holder. I'd leave it as is.

ldhair

I don't feel a dip will bring the entire coin white again.

If you do get it white I bet all the luster will be gone.

originalisbest

Step one: get that nice dollar OUT of that abomination of a holder. I don't know about a 64, but it's nice.... the way it is.

Step two: Leave it the heck alone! That toning is VERY nice, and far preferable to having it join the ranks of another washed-out, dull and lifeless dipped-out cartwheel horde. Especially as it's a nice '21!

Just don't do it - my name says it all re: my feelings on this topic. Ask boardmember tonelover which he'd prefer, this coin as is, or after a good jewellustering.

Dog97

Personally I think it has already had a dip or 2, and poor dip jobs @ that. The golden brown dip residue & retoning is what makes me say that.
So I don't think another dip will help it any but it sure won't hurt it much more & might just improve it some.
I think the stains are light enough that they possibly can be removed so I say go for it. Dip it. And you don't hear me say that very often. It looks like crap now, you don't have much to lose.

BigGreek

I think we all agree the coin has to come out of the ACG holder.
That will happen in short order. After that I'm gonna take another
good long look at it under the microscope and see if I can get a
better idea about how intact the luster is. The coin has a great
cartwheel even under dim light. I'm leaning towards giving her
a light bath.

Does anyone think it'll get bagged or tagged "cleaned" as it
currently is? I agree with Dog that it's probably had a dip already.
What're the chances it'll get tagged "cleaned" after another dip?
How tough are the graders with lightly dipped coins?

Russellp23

How can you tell if a coin has been dipped?

Stuart

BigGreek: Before I'd take a chance dipping the coin, I'd try to soak it in acetone and perhaps GENTLY swab it with a cotton swab to encourage the removal of the stains.

FatMan

I agree with Dog97 that the coin was probably dipped and not rinsed properly. Generally I preach "Just say NO!" to dipping but in this case since I believe the problem was caused by a bad dip, it may take another to undo some of the damage.

greghansen

What...dip it AGAIN??? It's had enough already!

Dog97

<<<After that I'm gonna take another
good long look at it under the microscope and see if I can get a
better idea about how intact the luster is.>>>
BigGreek you don't need a scope to tell anything about luster. Matter of fact that won't tell you anything. If you want to see luster then tilt & rotate the coin and see the little band of light that goes round & round like the stagecoach wheels turning backward in the old western movies? That be your luster.

oreville

Instead of just using acetone as described earlier, first use some mineral oil along with a cotton swab. Lubricate the coin and see if any of the ugly toning can be removed. Then you may want to squeeze dry using very soft tissue.

The mineral oil is a very non-invasive way to determine how badly the coin has been treated in the past. There is no harm in rinsing with acetone and may, in fact, help.

Good luck!

BigGreek

Well, here's the coin after a 3 second dip. I'm very disappointed.
I kept the dip short hoping to avoid the washed out look. Note
the unfortunate print on the left field of the obv. Glad I didn't pay
too much for it, but I had hopes this would be the last '21 for a
while. The coin is a little whiter than the picture.

BTW, the soft picture is due to my bad technique and not the
coin.

Obv
Rev

Baley

I think it looks a lot better.

now, put it in your album for a decade or two.

either that, or sell it to me and let me put it in mine

Prometheus183

Don't dip it again,... won't do any good. There's only one way to restore that puppy. First, set up a speed sander and run it though at .020 per pass until all the high spots are down to field hieght. Then take it down another .015 until the field damage is removed. Next, run it over with a truck a few times to give it that "naturlally circulated" appearance.
At this point you should have what appears to be an original coin, or as they might say on PayBay, "GEM BU".

See how easy this is? Ya'll make it out to be such a trial or something.

Craig

BigGreek

Yep, it's going in the album. I'm finding myself looking for
two coins for the series: the first is a nice unc. album coin
and the other is slabbed "oh, my" coin.

Skipper53

I think I've learned something here:
If there's a trace of luster left on a coin, leave it alone.
That's as good as it's going to get.
An additional dipping will only make it a candidate for a bodybag.

WinPitcher

Never ever dip or clean a coin, I have been collecting coins for 30 years and the last thing you would ever want to do is clean them. The blacker the better i say, and if for some reason you get a coin that was dipped b4 you owned it live with it the way it is

ClausUrch

I've dipped a few coins with great results. There are certain coins with unattractive toning that scream to be dipped and if the procedure is done properly, even a professional coin grader would have difficulty stating with certainty that that coin had been dipped.

Dog97

Well it's a slight improvement anyway. It looks less bad than it did before.

melikecoins

You are always sorry when you dip.

Glen

fcloud

More coins are ruined with good intentions! It is obviously too late, but don't dip!