Is a dipped coin a cleaned coin? 1 1

[CherryO]

Besides the lack of gunk can you discern a chemical dipped uncirculated coin.
I added a cleaned coin and a dipped coin.
I’ve seen and have dipped coins from Proofs sets and no dealer I’ve met could tell. opinion’s appreciated 

Is a dipped coin worth less or unaffected by dipping.  
No scratches under magnification 20x and lower.

[Coinbuf]

The answer is maybe.  A coin that's been over dipped and thus burned is impaired and will be worth less.  A coin lightly and properly dipped will be undetectable to most collectors and dealers.

A few in the hobby consider dipping to be a form of cleaning.   Again, done right I do not see a dip as cleaning, but this is a matter of personal preference no real absolute correct answer. 

Edited October 13 by Coinbuf

[Henri Charriere]

I suppose it all comes down to a matter of semantics.

There is something called an "improperly" cleaned coin which implies a coin which can be "properly" cleaned.

If I run a muddied coin under distilled water, has it been cleaned?

You would have to closely examine its surface for a determination, right?  And many a collector who swears his coin has NOT been cleaned fail to consider it may very well have been cleaned years earlier without his knowledge.  The experienced collector with a discerning eye can tell.

Cheerio, Cherry O!

[Sandon]

   I assume that you are referring to the "dipping" of silver coins in anti-tarnish solutions. The use of such solutions on coins of other metals, most notably copper, produces an unnatural appearance, and such coins will be regarded as "cleaned" or worse.

   If it were up to me, silver coins that have been "dipped" in anti-tarnish solutions would be regarded as having been "cleaned". It is my recollection that noticeably "dipped" pieces were usually rejected by the grading services in their first years of operation in the late 1980s and early 1990s. (In those days, coins that were determined to be impaired were returned unencapsulated rather than being given "Details" grades.) However, so many silver coins had been "dipped" that the grading services evidently realized that their business would be appreciably limited by this policy and have since numerically graded silver coins that have not been excessively "dipped". Pieces whose luster has been somewhat impaired by "dipping" are given lower numerical grades than would otherwise have been the case.

   "Dip" is acidic and first removes "toning"--chemical compounds that include metal from the coin's surface. (Toning is not surface dirt or "gunk" that has not chemically bonded with the coin's surface and can be removed by acetone without altering the coin's surface.) If the toning was heavy or the coin is left in the solution for too long, it will remove the highest layers of molecules from and substantially alter the coin's surface. Some years ago, a Coin World article on this subject included microscopic images of an uncirculated silver coin's surface before and after it was "dipped" that demonstrated the substantial change in texture of the coin's surface.

   Today, collectors generally prefer coins with original surfaces that have not been altered by "dipping" or other chemical alteration. It is arguable that a coin that has been carefully dipped to be bright is preferable to one with unattractive toning, but grading services tend to give extra points to many silver coins with brownish or dark "toning" that was once regarded as undesirable "tarnish". 

   I'm not sure what your photos are supposed to show, as full coin images (the "Mercury" dime) and highly magnified ones (the Morgan dollar) are not comparable. Compare instead these images of an 1879-O Morgan dollar that was graded MS 61 by PCGS in part due to pale luster that suggests "dipping" versus those of an 1899-O graded MS 66 by PCGS with much more intense and original looking luster despite noticeable bagmarks:

 

[powermad5000]

I am not sure how to describe the look of a coin that has been dipped (I am only referring to silver coins here) is that it seems to have an "even" white surface, possibly somewhat unnatural as compared to a coin with an original slightly "frosty looking" cartwheel surface. Imho, dipping makes a coin evenly white but takes away that cartwheel effect that is only found on those coins with a true original surface. This is not to include coins that are PL or DPL as those are completely different surface conditions and also look nothing like a coin that has been dipped. Ones that are dipped, that were not previously cleaned by other methods leaving hairlines behind, may show no evidence of hairlines as there is no rubbing involved.

As far as grading goes, I think if a coin is overdipped it will get dinged by professional grading but if it was "done properly" I don't think the grade would be as high as it would be if it had that cartwheel luster to it.

[Henri Charriere]

In my formative years, the ONLY coins I can recall being dipped were the earlier Buffalo Head nickels whose dates were smooth.  In that state of preserversation, they had little value, so the theory goes as long as they were shunned, it might be interesting to find out what they once were.  It worked, but the lighter chemical deposit effectively precluded it from formal grading consideration.  The most a collector could do is fill a hole with their find in a blue Whiman time until a real contender showed up. Many such coins wound up in bargain "junk" boxes.

Edited October 14 by Henri Charriere
Korean misspelling.

[VKurtB]

On 10/14/2024 at 6:38 AM, Henri Charriere said:

In my formative years, the ONLY coins I can recall being dipped were the earlier Buffalo Head nickels whose dates were smooth.  In that state of preserversation, they had little value, so the theory goes as long as they were shunned, it might be interesting to find out what they once were.  It worked, but the lighter chemical deposit effectively precluded it from formal grading consideration.  The most a collector could do is fill a hole with their find in a blue Whiman time until a real contender showed up. Many such coins wound up in bargain "junk" boxes.

THAT IS NOT DIPPING, PERIOD!