Dipping - As A Collector Will You Or Won't You Buy It?

If I can tell a coin has been dipped it's likely a problem coin and would have to be a somewhat rare issue or variety for me to consider it. If it's been over dipped and stripped of mint lustre I'll pass. Eye appeal is always key...

If I knew a coin was dipped,I would not buy it. You never know what it will look like down the road, even if you think it was dipped properly.
John1

Zurie is correct when saying one cannot tell if a coin was dipped if it were properly dipped.

Keep in mind that the TPGs often dip coins before they are slabbed.

If I cannot tell, I do not care. If PCGS dipped some of my Ikes before slabbing, so be it.

All my PCGS Ikes were slabbed by the original owner; that is, I bought them that way. I have no way of knowing what they looked like before PCGS put them in their holders.

I have not seen any changes in the (over) five years since I started that set, so ask me again in five years.

And, as a general followup question, if a say for example 100 year old dime appears white with no toning, has it absolutely been dipped?

I'll share a simple story.
It was a sunny day in northern California. I was at a local coin shop, checking out their inventory because I had saved up some coin money. I spotted this AU 1939-S Walking half dollar for a reasonable price, although the toning seemed to have average eye appeal and was almost unattractive. Maybe a little PVC on the coin as well. The dealer noticed the splotchy toning, immediately went to the back room, and dipped the coin without a second thought. When he brought it back out, I almost threw up (not really). I was not interested in the coin anymore, and the blast white appearance was a huge turn off.

I learned a couple things that day. The first being that dipped AU coins are uglyyyyyy. The second lesson learned was that I prefer an average looking original coin than an unnatural blast white coin.

So when would I buy a dipped coin? Never. I avoid, the much I can, all coins that have any appearance of cleaning, whether dipped, wiped, or even rubbed in a pocket. Who cares where it's been, all I care about is how it looks now. The magic words are eye appeal.



The odds that a 100 year old coin developed not a drop of toning is very unlikely, so chances are the coin has been dipped/cleaned/anythingthatmakesitlookbrighter. If the coin looks good, I may take a shot at it. But if it looks dipped, I will pass.