Opinions About Toned Coin Wanted

OK, we now have a higher level of slobbing, where coins have to pass the sniff test.

Won't this make virtually all existing TPG coins worth subtantially less, since any slobbed coin that's not in a "smells good" holder will automagically carry the stigma that it couldn't pass the sniff test?

Collecting...It all comes down to collecting. You collect what you like, be it AT, NT, or whatever, you collect what appeals to your eye, and you pay what you're willing to pay. If you're collecting for value, then you become an investor, rather than the collector. Collect what you like, that's my rule. Just my opinion...and just like sphincters, everybody has one.

It's not a hard concept to grasp, Carl, it's called "thinking." You know, "I think, therefore, I am?" When one does not think, therefore, well, um, one is not.

Res ipsa loquitur.

To me, the color on the coin is nice but it doesn't fit with the coin. Thank you everyone for their posts.

I am waiting for the story.......

Sorry, I got lost in the shuffle.

The reason I tried to get people to commit to a definition of AT and NT, and what mechanically made them different, was to place this example.

For 20+ years, my shop was within 200' of Lancaster Glass.

This was an ordinary white ASE. I did absolutely nothing to it but put it on a shelf. No chemicals, special light, contact with high-sulphur paper, heat, etc. Since I wasn't trying to create a toned coin, I didn't keep track, but a good guess would be three-six months later, the exposed side looked like this, the other was still white.

Obviously, this is rather accelerated toning, but if your coins are exposed to that atmosphere, it seems this is a natural result.

Just for the halibut, I put it on ebay starting at $0.01 with $100 BIN. It was snapped up within three hours, in the middle of the night. Untoned was prolly $20 at the time.

So is it AT or NT?

Artificial and natural are COMPLETELY WRONG TERMS. I HATE the use of them. They are used in a biased manner dependant on the persons line of thinking. Normally I dont disagree with Thad, but here I do vehemently. Especially for him and those that hold his same opinion to insult me (YES insult me) by saying I am not a serious collector. Thad, dont get indignant when someone comes back at you after insulting them. By saying a serious collector wouldnt like this coin or one like it, you have insulted them. Using the phrase "only a serious collector" in ANY argument generally amounts to an insult. That aside, to my point...

As has been pointed out, toning is the NATURAL reaction of the metal of any given coin to the occurences in the atmosphere that the coin is in. Wether it be solely to heat, or just to chemicals or to a combination of both, it is a NATURAL occurence. Period. Any argument to the contrary is futile. These are NATURAL chemical responses. So the coin in question is a NATURAL toning. And as the OP has now pointed out, this coin was not "cooked". So where does that put all of you screaming its "artificial"? It puts you in the wrong on your terminology and line of thinking. No purposeful actions caused this coin to color.

Note that last sentence....no PURPOSEFUL actions.... THAT is the terminology that truly describes some toned coins. Accidental and purposeful. This coin was toned completely by accident. Just the chemicals in the air reacting to the silver in the coin. (On a side note...DUDE, MOVE YOUR SHOP! If there is enough sulfur just floating around in the air from a glass shop, it CANT be good to breath!) Wait, you dont have that shop anymore do you? Anyway, had fredd purposefully put it in an old envelope in the furnace room to get the coin to tone, that would be purposeful, NOT artificial.

As for damage...nope, dont buy into that. At least not to the extent to say its as bad as gouging with a knife. Thad, technically speaking, the things you do with Verdis Care (or whatever its called) and the like would amount to damage as well. At least so far as PCGS is concerned. One of your rehabed coins goes through their sniffer, its getting a genuine slab and nothing more. That comes from your very own line of thinking, just taken to the next step.

I have paid premiums for some beautifully toned coins. Some in the rainbow category, one gorgeous gold toned V nickel, etc. And they are NOT damaged as if a knife was taken to them. And I AM a serious collector. So neither artifial or natural, but accidental or purposeful. And as was shown here, just looking at the coin does NOT tell you which it is.