Victoria's Got The Blues

The toning subculture does seem to be big among American collectors. The so-called PQ does seem to have far less interest among Canadians.

I think eye appeal is the key. Toning is one aspect of that. In the case of your coin, I think the obverse has the look of a battered Victoria with a black (and blue) eye.

The contrasts between the high and low points on the obverse makes the coin look more worn than VF.

I do like dark toning, if the portrait is overall lighter creating a cameo effect. But this is not the case here.

Nice coin!
I didn't see this one on ebay lately how long ago did you buy it? I'm surprised there were no other bidders.

I bought it well over two years ago. I bought a Dino Light digital microscope at the FUN show this year and so I will be posting some photos of various pieces, a few of which have been in my collection for a long time. This is one of them.

I was very surprised to be the sole bidder. 1901 is not an easy date to come by in problem-free condition so you can imagine my surprise that my original bid held up.

(Edited to Add: I made an error in my original post in that this was not a Buy It Now listing after all. The $375 price that I mentioned was actually from a price sticker that was affixed to the ICCS holder. $275 was the reserve price and that's where it ended with me as the sole bidder.)