Opinions On Blast White Classic US Coins?

Not so. The GSA instructed their sorters that toned Morgans were to be put in the holders that lacked the "uncirculated" marking, even if in fact they were by today's standards obviously uncirculated. Given that procedure, I very much doubt that any were dipped during the process of preparing them for public sale.




Here's a Morgan that's toned almost black but has original luster (albeit that's much more evident in hand than from this photo).

Lucky Cuss, do you have a source for that info? I'd like to read up on that. I guess that could be the case, I can't recall (personally) ever seeing a nice toner in a NON Unc GSA holder. Yet I have seen a lot of heavy toners in Unc. GSA holders and I really doubt the GSA holder gave them that color, hence they would have gotten it before and obviously not have been dipped before holdering... But that also discounts what your saying in that any toner wasnt put into a UNC GSA holder? I don't know, like I said I'd love to read that.. As I really wouldn't doubt they dipped some ugly toners while let other nice ones make it into the shell.. But this is just my opinion... I haven't researched the topic



Ok... But I don't have anything really spectacular, as much as I'd like to I just can't afford the "monsters" (I dislike this term...). I mean in all honesty the majority of my Morgans are white... It's hard to find pleasing toners as often as I'd like... Well that arnt "monster" prices. I usually go for vibrant rim toning or bullseyes... But here's a couple of my favorites. And in a side note, the luster isn't impaired on any colorful toners I have, it's just as bright and "dripping" as any white coin.... Lol. And on a side note, I'm in agreement that I'm not a fan of solid black coins, heck I may even consider a dip if that were the case... But to me a bit of color adds to the coin.

Here's another example of very dark toning with full luster, this ones two hues of purple, one very very dark yet it has booming luster..


I really love this one a lot, there's just something about it I love.. This was actually the first morgan I paid a slight premium for due to the color


This is probably my favorite that I currently have, this one is a lot like the one above, with the blue/red rim toning.. just less, and mirrored fields. But held at an angle it also shows a gold color frosting the entire coin, just as many proofs get (this ones DMPL). It's really hard to photo correct, but I suppose that all proof or PL/DMPL coins are.. You really need to see this one in hand.





The obverse is almost blast white, couple tiny specs along the rim..

A bit off topic but definitely worth noting...

There is a big difference between someone who portrays themselves as an "Expert" and someone who speaks from "Expertise". Two HUGELY different things....I never take advice to heart from an "Expert" but totally respect someone who can speak from Expertise! Learn the difference...it will reward you in the end

Thank you, I definitely did not know that. That's awesome, I'm going to try to find it to read the whole article. I wasn't trying to argue with you, or pretend to be any sort of expert.. I was genuinely asking as I'd never heard that before. And in my defense I've done a fair amount or research on Morgans and even less on GSA's and that's not common knowledge that I could find.. And it's really not all to far fetched to think they may have been dipped when they were placed in their holders in a day and age where it was encouraged to dip silver coins....

Though it's absolutely true, I'm not sure what the expert comment is about regarding this thread.. I don't think anyone gave any advise? I've never claimed to be an expert if that comment was directed at me, I thought I made that clear with all the "my opinion" or "I'd guess" comments and whatnot... Again.. if that was directed at me. But again, back on topic, I'd definitely never heard that before.. That's great, I think it was an excellent decision on their part not to do it.

It does make me wonder what made the toners in the "uncirculated" holders tone up nicely? (The handfuls I've seen). I didn't think there would be anything in them to cause toning? And some to not tone? I wonder if it was a reaction that had started on some coins before being placed that progressed after maybe?

There's nothing whatsoever stopping a coin from toning in a GSA holder. They're not necessarily airtight, so you can expect some of them to come into circumstances which encourage toning.

I'm not really sure how to comment on the original article. It seems the rather strongly-held opinion of a learned coin guy intent on exemplifying just how subjective our hobby can be. He did a good job.

I don't agree with him on all points personally, and certainly hope that he's not being taken as representative of a hobby so diverse that folks who spend 5 figure sums on Morgan Proofs find happy common ground with folks who pull their collections from pocket change. We're not exactly monolithic.

Very hard, perhaps impossible, to tell if a coin has truly original toning. Many sold as "original toning" were dipped twenty or thirty years ago and have since retoned

I believe a lot of silver coins were cleaned in the late 19th century when such was a common practice. Many have retoned, some have not. Cleaning, e.g. wiping with a jeweler's cloth or some such, does tend to produce hairlines that can lower the grade on coins. OTOH, the Professional Numismatists Guild (PNG) does distinguish between cleaning, artificial toning, and similar methods and (paraphrasing) "use of dilute acids such as Jeweluster by qualified professionals."

Some series tend to have more collectors who like blast-white coins -- Morgan dollars and Walking Liberty halves, for example -- but I do see that a lot of collectors/numismatists as they get more advanced tend to grow to prefer toned coins. This is not a slam on anybody, and no generalization is worth a damn, as they say. Some folks will always consider toning to be tarnish, and some on the opposite side of the fence will be suspicious of any silver (esp.) coin more than a few decades old that is untoned. It all boils down to personal taste, and as SuperDave says, we are far from monolithic in that regard.

Having said that, my own personal taste is for nicely toned coins as a rule, and my customers have come to expect and look for those when they see me at a show or visit my site.

Definitely a topic that will get hearts racing around numismatic circles.

Best Regards,

George