A few years ago I left a dozen or so common silver halves, Franklins and a Kennedy, in flips, that didn't sell at a flea market, in a black leather satchel for almost a year. In that time the coins started to tone to a nice grayish blue around the edges.
I have since tried other coins, including a 1835 CBH that has been dipped. No luck yet in over a year.
Wow a year long experiment, cool. Maybe the humidity was greater the first time, did it rain at the flea market or something?
I had some unwanted toning on my 87 ASEs and started doing some research on how to stop this corrosion from happening to my new 2011 ASEs. Apparently sulfur is a big factor. I quote from this link: http://nautarch.tamu.edu/crl/conser...l/File13.htm
Quote: Silver is particularly susceptible to the effects of the sulfide radical. This is best demonstrated by the formation of tarnish on silver objects that are exposed to sulfur in any form, particularly hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, which can convert to sulfuric acid.
One of my most heavily toned silver eagles was won at a shooting match and kept in a plastic flip for about 14 years. I suspect it was exposed to some sulfur from gun powder residue.
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