Everything One Needs To Know About Toning

It is a total "love or hate it" situation. Never met anyone who was on the fence about it. Rainbow colors are the most desirable. And I have found that a rainbow shape, a circular shape around the outside of the coin or an overall rainbow colored patina over the whole coin are the best looking and most sought after.

This website is one of the better links that has been presented by other members here in the past. Be sure not to drool on your keyboard.

http://www.jhonecash.com/coins/tonedmorgans.asp

I've noted that, Tom - the British silver I've observed tends to tone all-of-a-piece rather than in a rainbow progression. My theory is that it's an artifact of how your Mint prepared the planchets. All the same, I've seen some pretty nice British coinage in that sense - here's a couple that wandered under my lens, although I lacked the ability to do justice to their color at the time:





Silver toning is a known process, following a known color progression through various hues. Knowing this is a good start in the effort to identify "artificial" vs. "natural" toning, which is an ongoing conflict in the hobby. In the US, rainbows are generally preferred to single-color coatings. Individual issues tend to tone differently, likely due to issues of storage methods and the like.

Morgans are a unique case, since so many of them went straight into storage and many of the outstanding Morgan toners acquired their patina while sitting in a bag. This is why you so often see Morgans tone in a crescent, because part of the coin was blocked by another. They're by far my favorites for toning, followed by Barber coinage which for some reason also can take on a really pleasing hue progression. There are also some very nice toned Bust Halves, although they're far more rare since their additional age has progressed the toning to too dark a hue to still be pleasing.

It's a very individual choice. As you can see, opinions....differ. Some favor toning - especially Morgans - to the point where they'll pay a substantial premium over normal prices. It's all in the eye of the viewer.

I took a great course on toning at the ANA many years ago, presented by Bob Campbell, he said always look for attractive toning, and that original toning always follows the color spectrum of the rainbow, in nature, if the colors are in a different order then it is most likely artificial toning and not worth buying. As to how much premium to pay? That is totally up to the buyer. Some of the monster toned Morgans can be astronomical priced when compared to a price sheet.

Sort of my viewpoint too. However, for many reaons there are numerous different types of coin and other item collectors. For example with coins there are error collectors, toning colectors and as you can see by all the separations in forums, old and recent collectors. I myseof dislike toned coins and prefer they look original. Contrary to that many people go out of their way to either purchase toned coins or make them. As it has been said many times, to each their own.

I personally would take a nicely toned silver coin over a blast white one any day, but it just comes down to individual preference

For the most part, I dislike toning, though I have found two Lincolns with toning I actually liked, so I put them in air-tites. By far though, I dislike the look and will pass them up in favor of non-toned coins.

I'm still rather confused on toning. If toning occurs due to silver reacting with elements of its environment, isn't it environmental damage? Although I suppose a penny turning brown is from the same reasons? Other than the appearance of the coin does toning in any was affect the physical surface of the coin?