Owner Comments:
For the most part, Moroccan coins have not been cleaned or altered to nearly the same extent as US coins. These coins are generally not very popular, and even coins with low mintages have low values. For example, this present coin has a mintage of only 340,000; I was able to buy this coin in 65 (with only 2 graded higher in 66) for a mere $200. Thus, these coins usually aren’t worth a coin doctors time and effort to clean, polish, artificially tone, or otherwise alter them. More common are contemporary counterfeits, meant to pass as currency at the time they were made (modern counterfeits, such as the Chinese plaguing the US market) are virtually unknown.
All that being said, a collector must be able to distinguish cleaned or altered coins. I’ll offer this one as an example – it has been dipped. “Dipping” a coin means to submerge it in an acidic solution to remove the surface layer (either something stuck on the coin, or dark heavy toning on the coin). Dipping is widely accepted in coin collecting, although some are opposed to it. Dipping may sometimes improve the appearance of the coin, although sometimes it may leave a dull, lusterless coin behind. Luckily, the luster on this particular coin is extremely strong. Dipping sometimes leaves evidence behind, however.
On this coin, notice the dark specks scattered across the coin. This is a sign that this coin had thick, heavy toning that was removed by a dip. The dip wasn’t able to remove all of the toning, and so these specks were left behind. The other thing to point out is the speckled orange area at the top of the reverse. This orange color, especially when seen with this spotty pattern, is evidence of an improper rinse after the dip. When the dip is performed, the coin must be rinsed in distilled water to remove all of the acidic solution from the surface, leaving behind a nice clean coin. If the dip residue is left on the coin, it can harm the coin or it may tone with this orange color. Between the two identifiers (the speckled appearance and the orangey area), it is clear that this coin has been dipped.
However, luckily for me, the luster of this piece has not been significantly impeded. It is still extremely lustrous, and shines in the light. The strike is good, and the eye appeal is enhanced by the luster. It has very few contact marks, and fully earns the 65 grade!