Home U.S. Coin Forum

For those who hate "dipped" coins.....

While attending the ANA convention today, I went to use the Men's Room. Standing at one of the sinks were two men in white shirts and ties. They were hunched over the sink with a pile of paper towels to one side and a jar of blue "gel" on the other. As I pretended to wash my hands, I noticed them carefully dipping several spottily-toned coins, then rinsing them off, drying them with the paper towels and putting the now-white pieces back in their flips.

Maybe next show, they will blatantly set up their dip tank at the registration desk!

I won't name the dealer, so don't ask.

Comments

  • zeus135zeus135 Posts: 1,043
    You shoulda smacked 'em in the back of their heads, just for basic principle.
    My humble '63 mint registry set, not much, but it's mine!
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 45,000 ✭✭✭✭✭
    well at least you only saw them playing with their orbs. It coulda been worse image
  • LeianaLeiana Posts: 4,349
    Another good reason to not go into the men's room! image

    -Amanda
    image

    I'm a YN working on a type set!

    My Buffalo Nickel Website Home of the Quirky Buffaloes Collection!

    Proud member of the CUFYNA
  • TomBTomB Posts: 22,947 ✭✭✭✭✭
    That's okay. I've seen dealers do this by partially ducking behind their table while at the show and dipping the coins right there on the bourse.
    Thomas Bush Numismatics & Numismatic Photography

    In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson

    image
  • notwilightnotwilight Posts: 12,864 ✭✭✭
    Maybe these were buyers who couldn't wait to get home to remove that that ugly tarnish that is euphamisticly referred to as "toning".image

    -Jerry
  • NumisOxideNumisOxide Posts: 11,034 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Wow, those guys must of been desperate. Another sad example of a dip and flip.
  • tsacchtsacch Posts: 2,929 ✭✭✭
    OUT THEM!!!!
    Family, kids, coins, sports (playing not watching), jet skiing, wakeboarding, Big Air....no one ever got hurt in the air....its the sudden stop that hurts. I hate Hurricane Sandy. I hate FEMA and i hate the blasted insurance companies.
  • WTCGWTCG Posts: 8,940 ✭✭✭


    << <i>While attending the ANA convention today, I went to use the Men's Room. Standing at one of the sinks were two men in white shirts and ties. They were hunched over the sink with a pile of paper towels to one side and a jar of blue "gel" on the other. As I pretended to wash my hands, I noticed them carefully dipping several spottily-toned coins, then rinsing them off, drying them with the paper towels and putting the now-white pieces back in their flips.

    Maybe next show, they will blatantly set up their dip tank at the registration desk!

    I won't name the dealer, so don't ask. >>



    At the Baltimore show you can do all that in privacy since there is the unisex room that locks from the inside. Several dealers consider that restroom their makeshift laboratory.

    Outing those dealers won't acheive anything since there are quite a few dealers who dip coins in the restroom.
    Follow me on Twitter @wtcgroup
    Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"


  • << <i>While attending the ANA convention today, I went to use the Men's Room....

    Maybe next show, they will blatantly set up their dip tank at the registration desk!

    I won't name the dealer, so don't ask. >>





    Do they get a premimum for the Chithouse dips?
  • OldnewbieOldnewbie Posts: 1,425 ✭✭
    If it's true, out them.








    << <i>

    << <i>While attending the ANA convention today, I went to use the Men's Room. Standing at one of the sinks were two men in white shirts and ties. They were hunched over the sink with a pile of paper towels to one side and a jar of blue "gel" on the other. As I pretended to wash my hands, I noticed them carefully dipping several spottily-toned coins, then rinsing them off, drying them with the paper towels and putting the now-white pieces back in their flips.

    Maybe next show, they will blatantly set up their dip tank at the registration desk!

    I won't name the dealer, so don't ask. >>



    At the Baltimore show you can do all that in privacy since there is the unisex room that locks from the inside. Several dealers consider that restroom their makeshift laboratory.

    Outing those dealers won't acheive anything since there are quite a few dealers who dip coins in the restroom. >>

  • stmanstman Posts: 11,352 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>While attending the ANA convention today, I went to use the Men's Room. Standing at one of the sinks were two men in white shirts and ties. They were hunched over the sink with a pile of paper towels to one side and a jar of blue "gel" on the other. As I pretended to wash my hands, I noticed them carefully dipping several spottily-toned coins >>



    OK, so you went to use the restroom and "Pretended" to wash your hands. Ummm, OK, got that one.image
    And did you think the dealers were washing their hands?image
    Please... Save The Stories, Just Answer My Questions, And Tell Me How Much!!!!!
  • DD Posts: 1,997 ✭✭✭


    << <i>While attending the ANA convention today, I went to use the Men's Room. Standing at one of the sinks were two men in white shirts and ties. They were hunched over the sink with a pile of paper towels to one side and a jar of blue "gel" on the other. As I pretended to wash my hands, I noticed them carefully dipping several spottily-toned coins, then rinsing them off, drying them with the paper towels and putting the now-white pieces back in their flips.

    Maybe next show, they will blatantly set up their dip tank at the registration desk!

    I won't name the dealer, so don't ask. >>



    The post would be highly enlightening and helpful if people knew who the dealer was.

    It's funny how fast we name Ebayers though.

    -Daniel
    "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

    -Aristotle

    Dum loquimur fugerit invida aetas. Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.

    -Horace
  • BochimanBochiman Posts: 25,789 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I would have to agree.....even if there are many more, if people did start naming them, it would be better for the hobby, but I guess people are scared.

    I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment

  • stmanstman Posts: 11,352 ✭✭✭✭✭
    And then, they send these to the slab farms, email one of you on the boards that they ran into a "Fresh" deal and you are special and get first shot. Hahaha
    Please... Save The Stories, Just Answer My Questions, And Tell Me How Much!!!!!
  • aficionadoaficionado Posts: 2,309 ✭✭✭

    I would never trust a dealer. If you don't ask the right questions, you'll never get an answer.

    ALWAYS ask if the coin has been altered in anyway.

  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 47,502 ✭✭✭✭✭
    If the toning was ugly and spotty, how many forum members would buy them? These dealers are in the business to sell coins and these coins would be unsaleable without the dip. These dealers wouldn't dip coins with halfway decent toning since they know collectors want original coins but these same collectors also want nice eye appeal. Some original coins are downright ugly and no one will buy them unless they are dipped. I would like some real world dealers to tell us how they handle the coins with really ugly toning which they may buy as part of an accumilation or a collection.

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • IGWTIGWT Posts: 4,975
    Does it take two to dip a coin in a public bathroom? image It would seem so much more acceptable if they were wearing laboratory gowns and operating in a sterile environment.
  • DNADaveDNADave Posts: 7,346 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Thats nothing, I once had a dealer dip the 1923 Peace Dollar I had just bought. Proclaiming as he gave it to me..."Now it looks better"
  • MrSpudMrSpud Posts: 4,499 ✭✭✭
    A while back I witnessed a similar incident at the Whitman show in Atlanta. Only it was an older Boy Scout teaching two young Scouts how to dip coins in Jewelluster in the Restroom. I later saw the older Scout behind a booth on the Bourse helping to sell coins at that booth. I mentioned it here on the forums and I said it was an Eagle Scout teaching the young scouts (I don't know much about scouting and assumed a Scout that old was called an Eagle Scout, he looked to be about 16 or 17 years old) and got angry responses saying I didn't know what I was talking about because all Eagle Scouts are trustworthy and honest. I was taught that he could have just ben an older Scout that never made it to "Eagle" status and that in the future I am supposed to check any Dipping Instructors clothing for an Eagle Badge before makimg such a horrible accusation because it is obviously much better for some reason if the Dipping teacher wasn't an Eagle but just a regular old Scout (something about President Ford). Nonetheless, an Older uniformed Scout was teaching young uniformed scouts how to dip coins in the Men's room.
  • These reports are very disturbing because the solution is potentially carcinogenic. Please do not do this in a public restroom and without gloves !
  • LanLordLanLord Posts: 11,754 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I really don't see what good it would do to name them! Afterall, there are plenty of people here on the boards that state their desire of clean white coins. They exist out there, it's simply a matter of fact, not all people have the same taste. The only thing naming them does is satisfy people's need for gossip.
  • BarryBarry Posts: 10,100 ✭✭✭
    I don't see the point in naming them. What difference will it make?

    Did you forget there's a major grading service that advertises its services as a coin dipper.
  • roadrunnerroadrunner Posts: 28,371 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Not all are ugly by any stretch. As I mentioned in the ANA show
    thread I sold a rarer date (3rd finest known for date/mint) seated coin at the show this week. The coin was orig in an OGH PCGS plastic as MS64. It was a lovely coin with pretty colors and full luster.
    I felt it was borderline 65 but a few tries to PCGS and NGC kept coming back 64. The new owner must have used this same bathroom as the coin was cracked and dipped immediately and resubmitted at the show. I'll keep a look out to see if the coin upgrades to 65. That would be a shame imo. It was already a shame that one of very few nice/orig looking better date seated coins is gone. How many rarer dates in UNC do you see with NICE color anymore? If the services award the 65 grade, then the games continue.

    roadrunner
    Barbarous Relic No More, LSCC -GoldSeek--shadow stats--SafeHaven--321gold


  • << <i>Another good reason to not go into the men's room! >>



    I agree Amanda ... It can be a yucky place




    << <i>Some original coins are downright ugly and no one will buy them unless they are dipped. >>



    Ohhh please ... Who are you kidding ... Even the ugliest coin will find a home ....



    << <i>These dealers are in the business to sell coins and these coins would be unsaleable without the dip. >>



    Ohhhh BOO HOO the poor dealers are only doing the hobby a service and should be appreciated as such



    << <i>I really don't see what good it would do to name them! Afterall, there are plenty of people here on the boards that state their desire of clean white coins. They exist out there, it's simply a matter of fact, not all people have the same taste. The only thing naming them does is satisfy people's need for gossip. >>



    Another person who thinks the dealers are providing a needed service. If a collector wants white coins and wants to dip for their own collection fine. When a dealer does so just for financil gain ... shame on him ....



    << <i>I don't see the point in naming them. What difference will it make? >>



    The point is that dealers should be held at a higher level. Do you really think the dealer would say he just dipped that coin? Do you think the dealer would tell you the truth even if you point blank asked him?

    Yes, I for one would like to know so I can stay away from that dealer or any dealer that knowingly corrupts this hobby. As like eBay I want these dealers on my DO NOT BUY FROM list.

    if you don't want to OUT this dealer
    1. You should never had started this post
    2. I never want to see another post on an eBay scammer


  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 47,502 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Not all are ugly by any stretch. As I mentioned in the ANA show
    thread I sold a rarer date (3rd finest known for date/mint) seated coin at the show this week. The coin was orig in an OGH PCGS plastic as MS64. It was a lovely coin with pretty colors and full luster.
    I felt it was borderline 65 but a few tries to PCGS and NGC kept coming back 64. The new owner must have used this same bathroom as the coin was cracked and dipped immediately and resubmitted at the show. I'll keep a look out to see if the coin upgrades to 65. That would be a shame imo. It was already a shame that one of very few nice/orig looking better date seated coins is gone. How many rarer dates in UNC do you see with NICE color anymore? If the services award the 65 grade, then the games continue.

    roadrunner >>



    The shame is that the top grading services continue to reward the coin dippers with upgrades. They are a big part of the problem.




    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • BarryBarry Posts: 10,100 ✭✭✭
    << I don't see the point in naming them. What difference will it make? >>

    The point is that dealers should be held at a higher level. Do you really think the dealer would say he just dipped that coin? Do you think the dealer would tell you the truth even if you point blank asked him?


    You should take off those rose colored glasses.

    What kind of higher level? The ethics stamp of approval of being ANA members? Come on...

    Most dealers are nothing more than salesman who care nothing about coins other than being product to sell to make a living. Note, I said most. There are clearly some dealers who care very much about coins, several of whom are on this board (and that's probably why they are here - why else would they put up with the abuse they sometimes receive.) There also are some dealers who have marketed themselves well and created the aura of caring about the coins they sell, but occasionally get exposed for what they really are when before and after pictures are posted.

    Don't ever forget caveat emptor!

  • LeianaLeiana Posts: 4,349


    << <i>You should take off those rose colored glasses. >>



    I think my rose colored glasses are permanently affixed.

    -Amanda
    image

    I'm a YN working on a type set!

    My Buffalo Nickel Website Home of the Quirky Buffaloes Collection!

    Proud member of the CUFYNA
  • RYKRYK Posts: 35,800 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Most dealers are nothing more than salesman who care nothing about coins other than being product to sell to make a living. Note, I said most. There are clearly some dealers who care very much about coins, several of whom are on this board (and that's probably why they are here - why else would they put up with the abuse they sometimes receive.)

    Ain't that the truth. It's not hard to distinguish those who care from those who will sell anything for a buck.
  • RussRuss Posts: 48,514 ✭✭✭
    The method described by the OP is going to result in coins that will turn to crap down the road. Simply rinsing in water does not properly neutralize the acids in the dip.

    Russ, NCNE
  • RYKRYK Posts: 35,800 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The method described by the OP is going to result in coins that will turn to crap down the road. Simply rinsing in water does not properly neutralize the acids in the dip.

    I do not know anything about dipping, but I suspect that the dippers are not concerned about what happens "down the road", so long as the coin gets sold before that time.
  • mcheathmcheath Posts: 2,441 ✭✭✭
    i dont want coins that will turn to crap down the road so out them.
  • mcheathmcheath Posts: 2,441 ✭✭✭
    if not what was the purpose of this thread, a show report, a scenic map of denver, i dont get it.
  • SamByrdSamByrd Posts: 3,131 ✭✭✭✭
    who cars if they were dipping a coin, dipping is common and most morgans and bright older silver has been dipped. What I would care about is the careless way it was done without stabilizing the coin and yes it might turn into a damaged ugly coin, often times perminent, that aspect is unethical totaly in my opinion.
  • ANACONDAANACONDA Posts: 4,692
    While I don't dip coins, some coins need to be dipped.
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 47,502 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>While I don't dip coins, some coins need to be dipped. >>

    image

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire




  • I dip my potato chips!! image
    Enjoy each day as though it was your last.
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 45,000 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The moral of the story is :

    If you see two men playing with something round and hard in the bathroom...

    RUN !
  • originalisbestoriginalisbest Posts: 5,971 ✭✭✭✭
    That's a shame about that Seated, roadrunner. Truly original Seated material is scarce enough, to strip it in "search of" that bump in grade. Grrrr!
  • RYKRYK Posts: 35,800 ✭✭✭✭✭
    While I don't dip coins, some coins need to be dipped.

    While that may be true, I would rather that a collector made this decision, one who has the best interests of the coin in mind, rather than the crackout artist, who is only interested in the profit potential.
  • LongacreLongacre Posts: 16,717 ✭✭✭
    No big deal. I don't even want to tell you what I walked in on at the men's room in Grand Central Terminal last year when I went to the NY Invitational Show. imageimage
    Always took candy from strangers
    Didn't wanna get me no trade
    Never want to be like papa
    Working for the boss every night and day
    --"Happy", by the Rolling Stones (1972)
  • There are very many coins that actually benefit from a good dip and also look better. I don't see the big deal here, no offense.image
  • topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I went to the men's room at the old Jack Tar show In SF. Yeah, it had a "Danger, WET FLOOR....PISO MOJADO" cone. So what? I'll tellya so what. A guy was CLEANING the room.

    But...


    It wasn't a .........GUY.

    Danged if she didn't LOOK like one. Boy did she get pissed. Spose I shud use a different term.

    image
  • topstuftopstuf Posts: 14,803 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Should have seen this one before dipping. Ugly blotchy toning. BROWN ugly blotchy toning.

    image
  • LeianaLeiana Posts: 4,349


    << <i>Should have seen this one before dipping. Ugly blotchy toning. BROWN ugly blotchy toning.

    image >>



    The only problem I have with that coin is that it looks like it was made yesterday, not in 1871.

    -Amanda
    image

    I'm a YN working on a type set!

    My Buffalo Nickel Website Home of the Quirky Buffaloes Collection!

    Proud member of the CUFYNA
  • ziggy29ziggy29 Posts: 18,668 ✭✭✭


    << <i>The only problem I have with that coin is that it looks like it was made yesterday, not in 1871. >>

    You're right, but there are still a few "original" butt-ugly toned coins out there. They don't all tone in even, light colors or look like the rainbow. Some of them look like my cat threw up on them and it was allowed to burn into the coin for a decade or more.

    I don't think you'll find too many serious collectors any more who would prefer a dipped "blast white" old coin over an *attractive* original coin. But at least a few of them look horrible, and because turning back time and changing their storage conditions isn't an option, a light dipping is occasionally the lesser of two evils.
  • mozinmozin Posts: 8,755 ✭✭✭
    What's the fuss all about?image The dealer was dipping his own coin. He can do with it as he likes.
    I collect Capped Bust series by variety in PCGS AU/MS grades.
  • stmanstman Posts: 11,352 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I don't think the dipping was such an issue as to the manor and place where it was done. I can just see the sweat dripping from their foreheads and their hands shaking with greed. There is a time and a place for most things. And dealers wonder why folks think the way they often do of them. Then other dealers stick up for them and there ya have it. Just like at shows you'll see the same ( or different dealers) cracking their coins and the plastic flying around the bourse floor. Last ANA in SF I was stepping on it constantly. Yeah, these are all the "fresh" deals I suppose!! Hahaha
    Please... Save The Stories, Just Answer My Questions, And Tell Me How Much!!!!!
  • As immoral as some consider it, dipping is rather common amongst dealers and some collectors. If done properly, it can improve coins significantly.

    A lot of coin series wouldn't even be possible to find blast white without dipping. For example, blast white BU Seated Liberty Dollars are 99% of the time dipped. A 150 year old silver coin simply ins't going to go that long without toning, and a proper dip and remove that tone.
  • BlindedByEgoBlindedByEgo Posts: 10,754 ✭✭✭✭✭
    [outrage][minor jealousy]What makes me sick is the tap water and paper towel thing. Those coins shouldn't by all rights EVER make it into a PCGS or NGC holder with dip residue and lint/ hairlines on them.[/outrage][/minor jealousy]

    [sarcasm]Oh, now I get it - the dealers will sell them as raw BU's to the unsuspecting... In that case, never mind. It's OK.[/sarcasm]

    [irony]Who knew... Greed, lies and misrepresentation at a coin show[/irony]

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Emoji
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file