| Author |
 Replies: 8 / Views: 1,686 |
|
|
New Member
United States
29 Posts |
That's what one coin dealer told me today at a coin show. I showed him some early 1900's silver coins that appear to have no toning and he said absolutely NO old silver coins can be like that. Then said any that are had to have been cleaned. Not to mention that one of the coins had very faint gold toning on the outers of the reverse. What say you? All those untoned Morgan dollars, Peace dollars, Barber quarters, Mercury dimes, Walking Liberty halves that PCGS, NGC, ANACS and many raw coins in your collections must be cleaned according to this dealer. Or is this dealer completely right? |
|
|
|
Valued Member
United States
256 Posts |
I think all coins have some sort of toning, however on some it may be so slight that you can't see it.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Canada
5417 Posts |
 I have mt fair share of BU Morgan's and Peace dollars. A lot of these coins were dipped in the 70's when the practice was very common. However, serious coin collectors existed even then, back when the Morgan's were first minted and I'm sure they did their best to keep the coins "clean". I think you can take heed of his advice and be wary of plain white 19th century coinage but on the other hand you also need to take into account other factors. Cleaned coinage usually is no Brilliant White but instead is a washed out offwhite color. Sometimes with some grayish toning developing on the edges. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1200 Posts |
FWIW... I've heard it rumored that not every show vendor in the world knows everything there is to know, is always 100% correct about everything he says or is always 100% truthful about everything he says. If you were showing that vendor some MS old silver coins, he might have anticipated the possibility of buying the coins from you and been setting the stage for beating you down in a price negotiation. I know some show vendors who are great people---honest, ethical, trustworthy and professional. I've also seen others who are nothing like that. The necessity of exercising due diligence applies to choosing the dealers and vendors you buy from just as much as it applies to choosing what you buy. About the coins... I personally don't believe every MS-looking old silver coin was cleaned. I'd also be very suspicious of any show vendor who declared himself to be a judge of coins on a level above that of all the TPG services put together. |
|
Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Some of them have been dipped but not all and hes not right that every silver coin must have toning. Take morgans for example, the middle of those bags werent getting any air protecting everything in that area. Barbers are the ones most likely to have gotten a dip if theyre blast white, but 1900s coinage was so plentiful that theres more than one explanation for why they look they way they do today
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1959 Posts |
To go so far as using words like "all" and "always" when referring to toning on coins is taking it a little too far. Morgans are the largest exception in US coinage due to their known history. In general, I am always suspicious of a truly tone free coin. Further, I don't find them (tone free coins) all that appealing. I think that may be why I shy away from MS coins even if slabbed. Just personal preference. So, I wouldn't use "all" and "always", but the vast majority of 50, 100, 150+ year old silver is not naturally white. Just because a coin makes its way into a problem free slab, doesn't mean it hasn't been dipped/cleaned either. Perhaps the dealer was a little strong with his wording and came off as full of it, but his mindset may serve him well from a business perspective. |
|
Pillar of the Community
 Canada
9864 Posts |
70 years and more ago, a large portion of the finest coins were coated in lacquer, all those coins still exist today, free from lacquer, entombed in slabs.
"Dipping" is not considered cleaning...
-from PCGS website
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
The dealer that said that is rather on the wrong side. Not totally wrong, must mostly wrong. One thing I learned working in the Nuclear industry is so many little things are eligible for liabilities. We had to learn to never say or write ALL for example. Had to watch out for words like MAY, MIGHT, COULD SHOULD and pile of other words that could get someone in trouble if not exact. Saying all coins will tone is not real smart. Saying all coins may tone, might tone, could tone is a possiblity yet means very little for documentation. Toning is a sort of term used to mean forms of corrosion, tarnishing, Oxydizing, staining, etc. All metals tend to do that to some extent. However, since so many metals are protected from doing that, he really should have said Toning is possible on lots of coins but far from all. Or something like that. Meanwhile I've heard that the government has hired millions of people to do nothing but clean coins all day long.  |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1666 Posts |
The dealer presents an absolutely ridiculous notion. I'm into foreign coins, but come across early 20th and even 19th century silver coins that are blast white and uncleaned on a regular basis. And I've seen Morgans that people purchased in original rolls when the government sold them off in the 1970's, many times they are blast white and definitely never cleaned.
|
| |
Replies: 8 / Views: 1,686 |
|
Posted 02/23/2014 2:54 pm
