Poll: Have almost all collector coins been tampered with in some way, at some point, to enhance the

ANACONDA

Have almost all collector coins been tampered with in some way, at some point, to enhance their appearance?

Steve27

Yes, PCGS, NGC and host of other companies place coins in slabs which hide many of their flaws.

FatMan

I think this would be a better poll if broken down into percentages. "almost all" is too inclusive to answer in the affirmative but I do believe the percent is in excess of 70% for collectible coins. That would exclude what currently circulates in the economy.

LanLord

<< <i>Yes, PCGS, NGC and host of other companies place coins in slabs which hide many of their flaws. >>

I though it was that they reward them in many cases. I've seen many coins in what looks like their "natural state" and then some months/years later it shows up nice and clean with a point or two bump in new plastic clothes. It's sickening, but it's life. I guess it's also impossible to tell if the natural state really was, since the coins are way older than me and I'll never know what occured throughout it's lifetime!

ColonialCoinUnion

Use of the words 'tampered with' implies some sort of nefarious activity, intended to decieve. And while a lot of coins have been treated in such a way, I'd say its 10-15% of the total though perhaps a preponderance of higher end items slabbed in the last 5 years.

I'd say a great majority of coins have been treated in some more innocuous way - including coins which have been brushed (and which was probably good for them).

ziggy29

I'd say a majority of "collector" coins, but not a majority of coins overall. There are billions of current coins in circulation, the vast majority of which have not been messed with -- and they dwarf the quantity of "collectible" coins.

jdsinva

I think the poll needs to be qualified further. To state almost all coins is a bit too much of a blanket statement and I think the majority of 20th Century coins have not been enhanced. Now with 19th Century coins, I would tend to agree with those in the early part of the century have been enhanced in one way or another. Perhaps in the last quarter century of the 1800s the pendulum starts to swing the other way. . .

ColonialCoinUnion

<< <i>I'd say a majority of "collector" coins, but not a majority of coins overall. There are billions of current coins in circulation, the vast majority of which have not been messed with -- and they dwarf the quantity of "collectible" coins. >>



For cryin' out loud, I think we can assume that Anaconda was referring to 'collector coins', not the coins in your parking meter.

FatMan

<< <i>For cryin' out loud, I think we can assume that Anaconda was referring to 'collector coins', not the coins in your parking meter. >>

Adrian is a GD Lawyer. It is best that assume nothing.

Louis

Adrian, what is your opinion on this ?

slipgate

I could be wrong but this just might kill Anaconda's business. You sure have a bunch of toned coins.

ziggy29

<< <i>Adrian is a GD Lawyer. It is best that assume nothing. >>

'Zactly.

dlimb2

Since the first coin was collected there has been the greed factor....Many collectors are aware...and it is the main reason many have chosen to go MODERN for now...in time it will also carry the fool factor!



Best thing to do is keep all coins in Mint Packaging.

RYK

Someone suggested that in the MOC thread. I have never tampered with a coin and have no intention of ever doing so.

BillJones

I think you should put a date for "collector coins" in your poll. If you had said coins from 1793 to say, 1950, the answer would be "yes." But given the high volume of modern coins that that the mint is pumping out, which don't need "doctoring" just yet, it's a horse race.

AlixTCat

Considering I keep seeing coins on eBay that should have nice, dark toning, but they are blast white... well, I just don't think they should be blast white. Don't get me wrong, in my early days of collecting, blast white was what I looked for. However, after spending lots of time on this forum, I have learned that "original" is preferable to most serious collectors and blast white coins are not. Or course a blast white coin can re-tone, but will it ever be original again? I think not.

But, I don't think ALL coins have been messed with. I'd say about 50% would be my uneducated guess.

Jonathan

ANACONDA

Adrian, what is your opinion on this ?

I believe that the older a coin is, the more likely it has been monkeyed with, either by being lightened or retorned or artificially toned, so, in sum, I'd say that the majority of collector coins have been tampered with in some way to enhance their appearance.

While I don't monkey with coins (I have no experience) I think that it's OK to do so as long as you don't try to defraud anyone. Monkeying with coins is the way you learn how to detect coins that have been played with.

ANACONDA

I could be wrong but this just might kill Anaconda's business. You sure have a bunch of toned coins.

I don't think so. We have a number of toned coins but so does every fairly large dealer. I'd hate to be known as a dealer of just white coins. We've been intentionally getting away from questionable coins. I'm not saying we don't have any monsters but we've moved the vast bulk of our inventory into classic rarities and non-monster toned coins. I still like wonderfully toned coins but for several reasons, I think it is good that the bulk of the inventory we own is no longer in monster toned coins.

We do have a consignment of some commems that are pretty wildly toned but we don't own them.

We still have about 30 nicely toned Morgans out of 500 or so coins and we have a large consignment of wildly toned Indian Head Cents and the commems I've mentioned but again, most of our valuable inventory is in classic rarities and early type.

HTubbs

<< <i>Yes, PCGS, NGC and host of other companies place coins in slabs which hide many of their flaws. >>



what he said...

majorbigtime

<< <i>I could be wrong but this just might kill Anaconda's business. You sure have a bunch of toned coins. >>




You mean the b*******oner toners??

clw54

<< <i> Have almost all collector coins been tampered with in some way, at some point, to enhance their appearance? >>


I suspect so, at least the older stuff. Seated material has mostly be cleaned at smoe point, I've heard.

Nic

No to almost all. Yes to too many. It's been going on for the 30 years I've been involved with coins. K

ABC123

Your Guess is as good as ours !

robertpr

If you're referring to uncirculated coins, I'd say the figure is around 25% - 30% of them are. Below UNC, and the number drops substantially.