Does Toning Reduce The Value Of Ancient Coins?

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 1,169
Bob June New Member United States 45 Posts	Posted 05/07/2021 12:27 am I put some silver coins in an abafil tray a few months back and now that I checked back on them I saw that they had acquired rainbow toning- Does this essentially mean that my collection is worthless now and the coins are ruined in terms of value? Edited by Bob June 05/07/2021 12:28 am Report this Post to the Staff

Kushanshah Pillar of the Community United States 1554 Posts	Posted 05/07/2021 05:38 am Attractive toning can actually add to a coin's value. Edited by Kushanshah 05/07/2021 05:39 am Report this Post to the Staff
Spence Moderator United States 34393 Posts	Posted 05/07/2021 05:38 am @bob, in my experience, toning doesn't really affect the value one way or another, although it is true that the vast majority of my silver ancients are not toned. Any chance of you adding to this thread a couple pics of one of the toned coins? Thx. "If you climb a good tree, you get a push." -----Ghanaian proverb "The danger we all now face is distinguishing between what is authentic and what is performed." -----King Adz Report this Post to the Staff
Palouche Pillar of the Community Spain 2752 Posts	Posted 05/07/2021 5:35 pm Agree with KS....I'm really drawn to toned coins and will pay a little bit more for a nice silver and black coin....Here's a few of mine....The first Domitian doesn't really show its multicoloured toning with its blue, yellow and grey colours.I store all my ancient coins in open trays and they do darken in time... PS....Would like to see some photos of yours......Paul Edited by Palouche 05/07/2021 5:51 pm Report this Post to the Staff
louisvillekyshop CCF Advertiser United States 1303 Posts	Posted 05/07/2021 8:19 pm Here is a beautiful toning effect I just photographed so before I throw away the photos I post them here. Almost like an old movie on the reverse in my opinion. Report this Post to the Staff
Kamnaskires Pillar of the Community United States 7066 Posts	Posted 05/07/2021 9:34 pm Wayne Sayles devotes a section of his Ancient Coin Collecting book to the factors that may affect the value of an ancient coin - both positive factors adding to value (e.g. provenance, rarity, etc.) and negative factors reducing value (e.g. flan cracks, crystallinity, tooling, etc.). Toning is, rightfully, listed as adding value. He points out that cleaning a coin, to the extent that it appears "shiny and new...may be acceptable for modern coins, but ancient coins lose much of their emotional appeal if they look new." Later in the paragraph he states "Coins with even and natural toning are more desirable, and consequently worth more, than those which have recently been cleaned." Many ancient coin collectors have tried various strategies to speed up toning on overly cleaned recent acquisitions. Rainbow toning, as you describe, Bob, would be considered a very desirable outcome. Report this Post to the Staff
FVRIVS RVFVS Pillar of the Community United States 3433 Posts	Posted 05/07/2021 11:48 pm Personally I like a nice flan crack on larger sized bronze pieces Not so large as to leave a gap in the detail but a nice crack in a 2-3rd century Sestertius gives me more to examine and determine with confidence that I am holding the "real deal" ! Fakes are getting awfully good these days But faking both a thick (preferably green) patina and the correct deposits found inside of a cracked flan is still a challenge for the architects of fraud I personally find a good crack to more positive than negative But that's the beauty of collecting ancients It's a matter of taste Report this Post to the Staff
	Replies: 6 / Views: 1,169

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