Dipping?

The coin dealer was right, most likely he was referring to E-Zest or some other form of jewerly cleaner. Some people perceive dipping coins to be unethical and consider dipped coins to be problem coins, however it is done often and as long as a coin isn't overdipped TPG's will slab the coin. There are also people who think all blast white coins have been dipped in some cases, such as Morgan dollars.

I used to dip my junk silver and even clad Ikes. I used "Conniseurs's jewelry cleaner" from Target, omg talk about a beautiful finish! Like I said, junk silver only.

Be very careful here Rich. Dipping in E-z-est or Jeweluster will not remove heavy tarnish/toning without "over-dipping". So as far as sounding too good to be true? Well it kind of is. Most of us do not have the knowledge or experience to dip high value coins. I know I don't.

I do dip some silver coins but most of them are AU/MS bullion type pieces. My recommendation is don't mess with any type of dipping or cleaning on any valuable coin. I define valuable in the $25-$30 range. Over that dollar amount and I won't mess with them.

Think of this. The toming on coins is almsot always a combination of the metal and outside substances. In other words Oxygen, Chlorine, Flourine, Moisture, etc. In some instances SO and SO2 in the air. Regardless of the outside substance, removing toning, tarnishing, corrosion, etc. also removes some of the oringinal material of the coins.


Yes it was to good to be true. The coin would not be harmed but some of the metal has now been removed too. Yes it will now look pretty but also now really cleaned. Acetone would not remove that tarnish but almost all jewlery cleaners will since they remove some of the metal too.
And remember that DIPPING is a vague statement. Dipping in what and for how long makes a world of difference. For example dipping a coin in battery acid for a month or so would really make whatever is left shine like new. If anything is left, that is.
Be carefull of what people tell you if they have nothing to loose but you do.

Personally I think it's a bad idea. I'm not saying the major third party graders will catch every single one, but they certainly consider a "dipped" coin to be cleaned. And if there's any amount of wear on a blast white coin I view it with suspicion.

Interesting information that I've always been afraid to ask.

just remember anytime you remove toning you are altering the surface of the coin also as in it eats away a little bit of the silver. That is why when you over dip it takes away the luster of the coin and makes it look flat. If you have never done this before I would definitely not try it on a coin that you really like except for the toning, I would practice on some junk coins first. I have heard people put them in and count to five and then take them out and immediately put then in water with baking soda in it to stop the chemical reaction. Just be sure the baking soda is dissolved completely in the water so it doesn't scratch the coins surface, then they rinse the coin in distilled water. It is very tricky and allot of people have done it for years but its not for the faint of heart and not something we recommend someone do because it is considered cleaning. The thing about the TPG's slabbing these coins, if they are sent in right after yes they have been slabbed but if its done incorrectly the coin inside will show signs of the treatment while its still in the holder and start to turn very ugly. I have seen quite a few coins in top TPG holders that I do not believe if they looked that way they would have holdered them so I am sure they had to turn while they were in the slab. This may also be a thing of the past since the top TPG's now use some type of sniffer on the coins. not sure they do it to all coins or not but this sniffer is supposed to be able to detect any chemical that has been added to the coin