Toning: A Thing Of Beauty?

Toning whilst nice can also mask a coins details



Sometimes one pops up that is unexpected. I have hundreds of CU sixpences an very few exhibit any toning.

By the way Richard, that 500 Lira that you posted is a whole bunch uglier than the Walker that 'I' posted at the beginning of this thread (and I only posted the Walker because it was the ugliest toning I had ever seen).

the walker was on the ugly side, but with the double or tripple reverse I think toning isn't the important aspect....!

I have seen some fairly ugly examples toning in this thread, and such coins are certainly not eye pleasing. May I suggest that one way of preserving a nice coin that is not slabbed would to be to house it in an acrylic coin capsule. That makes it harder to put into a storage album of course, and I find that annoying. You can buy album pages that are 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" that will tolerate dollar sized coins; you may have to staple the pocket shut to stop the capsule from falling out.

I can see one problem for ugly toned MS 60 to 65 coins. How do you remove the tarnish from such coins? Certainly coins with ugly toning have less eye appeal and bring less at auction.

A small anecdote: I saw in a dealer's junk box many years ago, an obviously ancient coin which had no hope of attribution because the detail was completely obliterated by a so called 'patina'. Even the dealer had no idea! He suggested that I could take a gamble with it, with possibly total loss of the coin. I took up the challenge. The coin was immersed in a weak solution of hydrochloric and sulphuric acid. It turned out to be a rather nice Egyptian silver tetradrachm of Ptolemy X11, of the time about 88-81 BC, in about good VF condition, with only a tiny amount of wear, of good style for the period, well centred and struck, with all of the legend readily readable. Probably worth over $300 today. The coin, 25 years after it's ordeal, is re toning in a pleasing manner.

Toning: A thing of beauty?

Although not everyones cup of tea, I find it gives an originality and uniqueness that I quite enjoy.

FWIW, toning is not corrosion......in fact, the thin layer covering the coin actually protects the coins original surface!

Another misconception is that toned coins will continue to tone towards the black end of the spectrum. This is only true if the coin stays in contact with the enviroment that causes the toning......take the Morgan out of the mint bag, and the toning will halt. I own a couple of Morgans that have not changed one bit in 25 years, and a quick look back in some older auction catalogues supports this fact.

1882-S pcgs ms65



1945 pcgs ms67




1963 pcgs ms65

*shriek*

Everyone, please check for that axle grease Walker in the "Contest, Quiz, & Giveaway" forum under the same topic title as this one. It could be yours.

--Link added by Staff:

https://goccf.com/t/68921

Yes, I have seen some copper with absolutely gorgeous pinks, blues and greens, never owned any though.