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 Replies: 21 / Views: 4,403 |
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
Yeah, that too. Silver only; thiourea dislikes copper and is no better than soap & water for a noble metal like gold.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4692 Posts |
It's a crap shoot. I have dipped ugly toned PF-65 CAM Morgan dollars. One came out so nice it went into a PCGS PF-65 DCAM holder. The other ended up in a PCGS PF-65 holder. My technique is to dip as fast as possible and immediately rinse with DI water. It's basically how lucky do you feel. What I have found interesting is that dipped coins tend to retone right back the way the way they were prior to dipping over time. Not exactly sure why that is. Edited by jimbucks
01/26/2015 7:21 pm
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
I have warm water running at pretty good pressure ready for the instant the coin comes out of the dip. It helps to blast the acid off the coin, and the final step is an acetone rinse which drives the water off anyway. Quote:
What I have found interesting is that dipped coins tend to retone right back the way the way they were prior to dipping over time. Not exactly sure why that is. The metal, freshly-stripped, is far more susceptible to toning. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1566 Posts |
Quote:
The metal, freshly-stripped, is far more susceptible to toning As a master machinist and life long metal worker I know this to be true. Toning and oxidation actually acts as a protective layer keeping the metal underneath the oxidation from corroding any further. By stripping away the oxidation you allow the fresh metal underneath to corrode as well, resulting in the drab over dipped coins we see all too often on the market. I personally would never dip a coin but to each their own. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1750 Posts |
Dipping does not benefit a coin in the vast majority of cases. There may be some coins that benefit, but they are in the extreme minority.
I try to steer clear of them, as they really look unoriginal and unappealing to me.
Edited by DoubleEagle20
02/02/2015 6:33 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
The main problem here is it is not clear as to what a coin should, should not be dipped in. Dipping in distilled water, for example means little. Dipping in Acetone too means little. Dipping in strong acids or jewlery cleaners too can usually do some damage. Dipping a coin in all sorts of things people find to dip a coin in could be bad, very bad, have no effect.
The best thing is to just leave a coin alone.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1450 Posts |
Can you just wash a coin in a soap or detergent to remove grim? I know in antique business cleaning certain items is the kiss of death. Furniture, for example, is usually better with all the dirt and grim from a 150 years. Metals like silver I don't know. People polish silver, but is that horrible for silver coins since most are only 90% silver at best? I look at my EF half dollar and I think it would almost look like AU if it was clean, but maybe not.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
Cleaning is anathema in numismatics. This is a large hobby, though, and like other endeavors there are outlying cases which deserve further scrutiny and discussion. It's the nature of a Forum like this that we'd end up spending disproportionate time on the outliers, because a positive decision to conserve (note my use of the term) still invokes a "do the least harm" protocol. We need to clearly delineate this process for all reading, so we tend to be verbose on the subject. So don't clean your coins.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1450 Posts |
From Dave's lips to God's ear "Don't clean your coins". I think I got that now. That is good information for me, so thanks.
J. King
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1208 Posts |
terry8835:
Your signature of "J. King" caught my eye.
The man that got me interested in coins was "V.J. King".
My grandfather...
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Pillar of the Community
United States
519 Posts |
Years and years ago I had a commercial coin dipping product that I occasionally used. That was probably when Reagan was President. Now I fully understand all the reasons not to dip, but are any commercial products now available that anyone has used? I see some doing a google search but who knows what they are composed of . . .
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Jeweluster and E-Z-Est are the most prevalent commercial dips, they are composed of thiourea and sulfuric acid.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
519 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1132 Posts |
There was a coin ( Seated half dime w/ arrows) I was interested in purchasing last week with a $50 price tag. It had some toning which I didn't mind except a small portion of the rim was turning black. I asked the dealer out of the Half Dime & a toned Barber quarter which of the 2 he thought was a better deal (same price). He replied the Half Dime & insisted I could get a better Barber quarter if I waited. I mentioned I had some reservations due to the smidge of black on the rim. He said "gimme a second" and came back with the same coin blast white. I thought it was a diffrent coin but he told me he just dipped it. Yes, the black was gone (although the beautiful rainbow patina was too). The luster was non-existent & so was my interest. Edited by CopperCastle
12/10/2015 8:49 pm
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Valued Member
146 Posts |
I noted something left out of this string - probably because it is obvious to all the experts who replied: While a warm water rinse after a dip is fine, IN ALL CASES the chemical dip should be neutralized (a solution of baking soda is common). That solution needs to be rinsed off completely. Professionals use deionized water for all treatments. The less fortunate among us should use distilled water. A dip in acetone will help the coin dry faster with a hot air blower or compressed air (with a good filter).
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Replies: 21 / Views: 4,403 |
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Posted 01/26/2015 7:17 pm
