| Author |
 Replies: 32 / Views: 5,609 |
|
Valued Member
United States
90 Posts |
Time to come clean. Around 1997 I managed a Restaurant In Florida. I also had a nice little collection of coins. Well one night when I was Bored me and the fellas got a Baking pan and ran it through the conveyor belt with some coins on it. Mostly Quarters, and they came out Black and Blue with some rainbow and gold colors. Well a light went off in my head (probably should have been a gun instead), and I started my experiments. I found that it was sooo easy to tone a coin. And trust me the easiest ones are the higher grades! The best way I found was to use a stove eye. I would take a penny, quarter, or any other and make it beautiful colors. Then I broke open a 1776 3 coin set and toned them. They came out a nice solid gold tint. And I was so proud of myself!!! Not now  Now when I have taken collecting much more seriously and am collecting to leave a nice collection of coins for my Daughter, I feel horrible about what is out there, and what I had exposed myself to. I can never bring myself to buy a toned coin that has been increased in value on that criteria alone, Its easy to make a coin have a little more of a cameo apperance also because a short time exposed to the heat would give the luster a bit of a deeper(darker slightly)contrast to the profile. I would take the coins to local coin dealers and their first response would always be "its plated", then I would tell them look closer and they were baffled. I would always say that I had no idea how they got that way. But occasionaly I would find the dealers that wanted to know if I could make more!! And would give me Nice proofs of their own at no risk to me of having to pay for them, to attempt to tone them to increase the value. I never did that thank GOD.................but someone has and is!! This toning thing has gotten completely out of hand and it needs to be investigated. The problem is there is no Law against it. I called the U.S. MInt when I was toning and they told me that unless A person alters the face Value of the coin ( engrave a 25c to appear to be a $1.00 coin) it is perfectly legal!!!!! I am telling you this because and please believe, thats not me anymore. Not for more than 6 years and will never be again. And what sparked this was a Thread that I just saw a thread called " cool colors, toned fast in my draw" . They are made probably on a Griddle. Don't let this happen anymore. I will do my best and have done my best to make known anytime I see what I know is fake. Problem is it's so easy to make them hard to tell. Not all are as obviouse as the post EditedPlease know that any and all pics I put on this forum are real and honest. Thank You Edited by Metalman
01/23/2006 1:33 pm
|
|
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
756 Posts |
Wow....Toned coins, at this point in my collecting, has never been a interest to me. I like the rich luster/shine of a silver or gold coin. However, having read this, I am not sure if I could afford to ever really appreciate a true toned coin, if there is the potential for that many fakes with a substantial $$$ increase.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
Australia
1091 Posts |
Start the ovens! Flood the market with special toned coins and watch the prices tumble. Then coins without a tone will be the sort after ones again.
Seeing that much tone on a coin dated 2005 is just plain silly.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
756 Posts |
LOL, I didn't even put the two together toast, thanks!
|
|
Valued Member
 United States
90 Posts |
I hope alot of honest collectors don't get upset at me, we all know toning does happen. Sometimes very nice toning, but as I said its easy to bust open an old cent and make it deep red, or a Morgan and give it that Rainbow effect. Its all about keeping one part cooler than the side thats hot. I don't want to give anyone ideas about how to do this, cause there is already so much out there. But to understand better take a coin you dont give a darn about and set it on your stove eye. have something to pick the coin up with when its hot! have a cool cup of water next to you. heat between low and med. temp. when the desired color is reached pick it up and drop in the cool water. have a napkin or cloth to dab dry, and there you go! Then go on ebay under u.s. coins and put the searh TONED and compare. IT will WAKE YOU UP QUICK!!!! |
|
Rest in Peace
United States
2884 Posts |
Hi, now that you have confessed to commiting these past coin altering "sins" why not keep the methods to yourself? Maybe that would help to prevent others from trying it and help stop the flow of AT's into the coin market. I know confessing is suppose to be good for the soul, but in some cases keeping a secret is more difficult and productive than confessing! Peace, Mike   Edited by Mike
01/23/2006 02:05 am
|
|
Valued Member
United States
90 Posts |
I will leave it up to you guys whether or not the classified info on the How-To heat the coins should be edited. I just think its time everyone knows whats out there, and how it got there.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
756 Posts |
Well, I can apprecaite the honesty. Had you not posted this, I would have thought toning was natural process. Call me naieve?!?
|
|
Valued Member
United States
157 Posts |
quote:
Originally posted by toast
Start the ovens! Flood the market with special toned coins and watch the prices tumble. Then coins without a tone will be the sort after ones again.
But then it will be all about dipping, and the coins go from the fire into the pan of chemicals... We can't win. |
|
Pillar of the Community
Belgium
2078 Posts |
I was a close up magician as a hobby for 20 years Telling how a presentation ( never use the word trick ) worked was forbidden to anybody holding a clubcard Even swapping info was frowned upon because that lost hundreds of dollars to the dealers Often I paid 20 dollars just to get a piece of stencilled paper telling me how to do something and to use my own deck of cards After all those years I got very good at arriving at an effect by means devised by myself without paying anything It should be an hobby and not a milking cow On coins my friend and I picked up so many cleaning and recoloring tricks on silver and gold never ever mentioned in any forum that I wonder whether we are in the same variation of never tell how you do it or loose your clubcard  Not that I have any coin clubcard Point is if you know how to do it you can see the tell tale marks just like in magic the turn of the body or the position of the fingers give away the secret |
|
Valued Member
United States
393 Posts |
It makes sense to me that toning is oxidation plain and simple. Whether the coin naturally toned over 200 years or 2 min. over direct heat it is still oxidation. I think experienced graders/collectors can most of the time detect the difference. That being said, I think if your intentions were to tone coins there are hundreds of cleaning agents/oxidizers that you could experiment with and come up with something. Some guy has even been trying to sell his "recipe" for coin toning on ebay. Like some of the other members, I'm not that fond of toned coins. In the long run if this unnatural toning fad catches on it will make natural coins more valuable. |
|
Valued Member
United States
90 Posts |
Thats the whole point! I want everyone to know how easy it is to do this. That way even though more may try to get away with it, eventually it will lighten up I hear from many of you encouraging and informing so many of us on what to look for on Doubled Die coins, errors, ect.. Time to stop the Tone Frenzy! |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
1247 Posts |
It's even easier for someone to strip away natural toning, which IMO, is just as much an altered suface as AT. I'd rather take my chances on getting AT than dead luster.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
421 Posts |
I wouldn't be too concerned about 'revealing' that method of ATing coins. Baking coins is a very well known and obvious method of ATing. You see some auctions on ebay for coins like that and they really don't look natural. I have done experiments myself with it too see what it looked like in person and it was very obvious even on the unc pieces that turned nice colors. On a number of forums I have been on, Easy Bake Toning is a running joke. ;) Edited by Stujoe
01/23/2006 9:13 pm
|
|
Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
I've found that two weeks under my monitor stand is enough to turn the brightest BU into something from a Dali canvas. :)
|
|
Valued Member
United States
90 Posts |
You see I like what Ziggy29 said about flooding the market and making the ones without tone, let's just say stay on top. http://cgi.ebay.com/Rainbow-Toned-1...cmdZViewItemHave a look at this seller's items, it just makes me sick. If nothing else, I just wish they wouldn't destroy these coins  |
| |
Replies: 32 / Views: 5,609 |
Posted 01/22/2006 11:54 pm
