Retoning Question

I know they make a chemical or something that is sold at some on line dealers that is supposed to retone coins. I also heard a guy in my local coin shop one day saying that he had success burying the coin in some dirt in a flower pot. I have never tried either of these, although the second option sounds kinda weird. Does either work? I have no clue. Maybe someone will chime in on this and I can learn something too. I would be really curious if the flower pot trick actually works, LOL.

This has been discussed several times in the past. I do tone down coins all the time. I actually go out of my way to purchase exessively cleaned, polished, buffed, etc types of coins. I've been doing this for a long, long time and some with fantastic results and some not quite so good.
Many highly shinny coins have actually been polished with a real metal or chrome polish. Usually done by someone attempting to show how a auto polish works. Then those coins are just put back into circulation. Some may have been valuable but the demonstrators of the polish have no idea. Some are polished to look new.
Regardless I usually start with a soaking in Laquer Thinner, then in Acetone, then in Alcohol, then in distilled water. Occationally this process has to be repeated if the coins maintain to much of a shine.
Then comes my magic treatment. I place them on a kitchen window sill on a piece of bare wood and allow them to just sit there until they start to look normal. Occationally I pick them up and blow on them and then turn them over. Most eventually start to look like normal coins again. I've had some I've taken with me to a coin show and showed them to some expert type dealers and they could not tell they were cleaned. However, some just end up looking even more horrible.

The main problem with this system is the massive variations in your window and kitchen habits. Not all face South. Not all are in an area of decent to high humidity. Not everyone cooks the same amount and types of foods.

These are some of the ones being worked on for a long time now. All were highly polished or cleaned to the point of looking like proofs.
All were placed in the same solutions at the same time. All now on the same window.
Note the discolorations on some of them though.

And I have no idea why the Large Cent turned Bright Red.

The only variation I would make to the toning method above is that my kitchen would have to have a North facing window. The reason for this is that I live in the Southern Hemisphere!

The Sun rises in the East, and travels through the Northern sky, to set in the West. At midday, the sun is at it's highest in the sky, and the direction of a shadow gives you North.

You can also find North at any time of the day if it is sunny. Point the '12' of your watch at the Sun, and divide the angle between the hour hand and the '12'. The middle line between the two is North.

I am fairly sure that a Northerly or Southerly Sun makes no difference to coin toning!

Just Carl, the red color on the large cent may be from an ammonia bath.

I may have to try the window method on a few I have put away.