Are most "modern" white coins dipped too ?
COALPORTER
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I'm used to coins from the 1850's, so when you see one that is clean and bright white, or nearly so, then it is safe to assume the coin has been dipped at some point. How about "modern" coins ? Say coins from the 1920s, 30s, and newer. Are most of the clean ones dipped, or could they have been stored somehow to prevent tarnish ? Some of the modern coins I just picked up from HA look kind of dull and washed out - they look okay, but not the way I would expect a MS65 to look. 
or are Mercury dimes in MS65 just kinda lifeless?
or are Mercury dimes in MS65 just kinda lifeless?
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As Rick said, it's not safe to assume anything. There are original and non original white coins out there.
<< <i>I'm used to coins from the 1850's, so when you see one that is clean and bright white, or nearly so, then it is safe to assume the coin has been dipped at some point. How about "modern" coins ? Say coins from the 1920s, 30s, and newer. Are most of the clean ones dipped, or could they have been stored somehow to prevent tarnish ? Some of the modern coins I just picked up from HA look kind of dull and washed out - they look okay, but not the way I would expect a MS65 to look.
or are Mercury dimes in MS65 just kinda lifeless?
I think that classifying coins from the 20's and 30's as "modern" is a rather loose interpretation of the term.
Collector of Early 20th Century U.S. Coinage.
ANA Member R-3147111
<< <i>I'm used to coins from the 1850's, so when you see one that is clean and bright white, or nearly so, then it is safe to assume the coin has been dipped at some point. How about "modern" coins ? Say coins from the 1920s, 30s, and newer. Are most of the clean ones dipped, or could they have been stored somehow to prevent tarnish ? Some of the modern coins I just picked up from HA look kind of dull and washed out - they look okay, but not the way I would expect a MS65 to look.
or are Mercury dimes in MS65 just kinda lifeless?
Partially answering your question, MS-65 Mercs are not necessarily dull and lifeless:
unmessed with compared to older coins in my opinion.
just using logic here.
but based on what i have seen on this forum, dipping is very very
common. if we had an honest poll of how many people here have
acetone, ms70, and etc sitting in their shop and homes you would
be blown away by the percentage in my opinion.
I agree with fc.
<< <i>if we had an honest poll of how many people here have
acetone, ms70, and etc sitting in their shop and homes you would
be blown away by the percentage in my opinion. >>
You're probably right, though I'm not sure I'd include acetone in the same class as some of these other products that actually react with the surface and alter it.
1. most "White" Modern coins haven't been dipped.
2. it's possible that "White" coins from the era you mentioned are original, just not probable, though some certainly exist.
3. many of the "Original" coins from the era you mentioned have been dipped and are re-skinned.
with that said, from my LoftyPerch the term "Original" is one of the most overused and unprovable in common Numismatic use. it seems to be a catch-all for what is perceived to be a coin looking as it should given it's age, yet absent any sort of provenance past a couple decades.
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Many older coins were dipped many were not.
One real world example are the Carson City Morgan dollars that where found in the 1970s. The vast majority of those Morgans were gleaming white because they were surrounded by 100s of other Morgans in the bank bags and thus dramatically well preserved.
Those that were on the outer edges inside the bag picked up very attractive toning, in most cases.
As for the moderns, I would guess that most were either well stored by collectors and or went straight from the bank roll or mint packaging, right into a holder.
please expound on this reply while i'll consider its content. part of me wants to agree and part wants to consider you foolishly ignorant. without some explanation i'm tending toward the latter.
attractive they are collected as such and if they are tarnished they tend to usually
be spent.
Rare dates and rare coins are not often going to be simply spent so these are a
little more likely to be "conserved" or doctored.
Thw '34 to '64 coins often enjoyed better storage methods than older coins and are
a little less likely to be dipped.
Morgan dollars were very heavily dipped. Some of these guys bought the dip in 55
gallon drums. There were a lot of Morgans processed from 1963 to the '70's and a
lot of them were dipped to be blast white. This was the preferred look of the time.
K S