1896 Amazingly Toned Morgan (Must See Before You Die)

It's impressive, the only thing that will make it even better is if the obverse was toned the same way the back is. The premium would shoot up 2x.

Will post pictures and grade in about 4 hours when I get home.

On what do you base that claim?

MS66+

Here is full view of the back. As you can tell it's in a newer generation case. Keep on guessing the grade and give opinions, will be posting the front tomorrow after work.

Fredd was derisive of all toning, having been in the business since the days when toning was considered degradation and not an added-value feature. But one of his main agendas was provoking thought about the difference between "artificial" and "natural" toning, as he knew just how insubstantial that line was. He knew that, because he knew as much about toning as anyone alive, and he'd have understood how this coin came to be this way.

I suspect the originality of toning on a Morgan more if it's on both sides than if it isn't. The overwhelming majority of surviving Morgans spent most of their lives in bags, the ones which toned being close to the outside of the bag and flat-faced towards the cloth. Their "inside" face was covered by another Morgan, and the bag so closely packed that atmospheric conditions propagated inside the bag only with great difficulty.

That's where this coin came to be.

Morgans which "naturally" toned on both sides did so in albums, almost exclusively. Some small few did so in bags, having been oriented so their rims were towards the bag. Any Morgan which has toned in non-rainbow fashion on both faces is immediately suspect, as it was the album material itself which prompted the toning and it therefore developed exclusively from the rim inwards.

These are two entirely different causes for the process of toning, both valid, and are recognized as such by knowledgeable Morgan people. Fredd was one of those, and he'd have seen this coin for what it is.

Not to me at all... Quite the opposite in fact. I specifically try to find toners for my set. To "me" a dipped coin is ruined. I'd consider a blast white Morgan more suspect than this one...

SsuperDdave, as usual is absolutely right. And I agree, a coin with double sided toning would be more suspicious to me. Most of the Morgan's I have only have toning on one side due to that side being pressed against the bag wall while the other side covered by another coin though its rarer for a coin to have the whole side toned because its rarer that another coin wasn't blocking part of it. How many coins in the 1000 coin bag do you think are right on the edge of a bag with nothing inbetween? That's a pretty small percentage per 1000.

This is how crescents happen as well, more so than albums at least. Crescents happen when another coin is blocking part of the coin contacting the bag edge. If you hold another Morgan up to crescent toning it will be a perfect match to the coin. How far the crescent comes onto the coin depends how far the other coin was covering it.

Album toning is more often than not blotchy edge toning that is quite irregular. Full siders and crescents most often come from bags.

In my opinion, if this toning could be replicated relatively easy, there would be a lot more on the market. A coins value is based on supply and demand. The more rare an item is, along with a growing pool of people wanting it will cause the price to rise.

What I've come to observe in my coin collecting time, is that the older generations as a collective seem to want that perfect blast white specimen. None of us are getting any younger and as coin collecting grows even more a younger group of people will come in.

From a long term investment point, I feel these type of coins will grow in substantial value far faster than a normal one.

As to rather this should count as a NT or AT will always be debated. (But since supply seems down based on the huge premium these bring in, the artificial toning factory should probably go ahead make more.lol)