Pure Nickel Toning - At Or Natural

Got a set of 12 toners?

Interesting topic. I showed these 73 nickel quarters in a different thread which I think NGC would tag as "environment damage". These were pulled out of a burning barn. Intent can be a broad term. So if these coins were toned by arson as opposed to an electrical short was it intentional? What if the fire was set to purposely to tone the coins? Is there a difference if one leaves a silver coin in the sun for a month vs accidentally dropping it and finding it a month later? Let's take it a step further, what if a coin is stored in a barn full of cows for 10 years vs the house next door (and no I didn't experiment with this theory, lol)? So how do we separate intent? The result in this case would have been the same. So where does "purity" end and hanky panky begin? Juts playing devils advocate here.

Just to put closure on these same 1999 and 2000 25c coins. I put a few of the best ones aside for a few years... and just recently sold them on ebay, several to a CCF member (who loves toned coins). I also got much better at photographing toned coins. Here are some examples that sold last week. They sold within days of being listed, and if I had saved more of them, I probably would have sold them as well... (instead, the remainder went to the bank).

Harmony reverse and obverse



Pride reverse


October 1999 obverse