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 Replies: 9 / Views: 2,075 |
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Valued Member
United States
58 Posts |
Hello All
I am new to the forum, and my family has a few silver coins (none are particularly rare, but just a collection passed on). What is the best and safest way to tone some of the old coins. They've been in the 2x2's for sometime; how could I best go about letting them tone to get an extra special look? Is it simply just letting them breathe by taking them out of the 2x2 holders or what?
Thanks for any advice...
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Moderator
 United States
23731 Posts |
Have the coins been cleaned or are they in their orginal state? If they have been cleaned and you want to retone them. Place them on a window sill indoors that gets a lot of sun, turn them over every once in a while to get a even tone. If they are mint state coins than leave them alone.
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Valued Member
United States
66 Posts |
Personally if the coins are Mint state and uncleaned I would leave them alone.
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Valued Member
United States
426 Posts |
The window sill method never worked for me even in the hot summer months, what did work somewhat but is really slow is leaving the coins in those yellow manila coin envelopes and forgetting about them.
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Valued Member
Philippines
386 Posts |
Quote:
Is it simply just letting them breathe by taking them out of the 2x2 holders Putting it on any place in a room that is not easily reachable by anyone, storage room is perfect. But also be sure to turn them once in a while for even toning on both sides. These are done on any cleaned, circulated coins. Not on mint state ones. One sample of my toning experiment is this Philipine anting-anting (amulet) coin...  The picture did not show much of its blueish-purple tone, maybe because it was only taken via my cellphone. After the coin was cleaned, it took me more than 6 months to gain that effect. (pls don't do this on mint state coins)  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2661 Posts |
Quote:
what did work somewhat but is really slow is leaving the coins in those yellow manila coin envelopes and forgetting about them.
I hear that is from sulphur in the paper. My wife bought a 2000 ASE form our bank back when they sold them. They put in one of those money envelopes that have and she left it in that thing for eight years and it turned almost jet black. I dipped it in tarnex and sold it for melt. |
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Valued Member
United States
426 Posts |
Tim: Wow I thought it would have taken longer for it to tone black! I better check on mine more frequently to make sure the toning doesent get too outta hand.
Pandesalapi:
That is a very interesting piece! It looks like the design could have been inspired by the Cap & Rays 8 Reales but in 1770 they didn't exist yet so whats the story on that coin?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Quote:
The window sill method never worked for me even in the hot summer months, what did work somewhat but is really slow is leaving the coins in those yellow manila coin envelopes and forgetting about them.
And that is really a dangerous method since it could really ruin the coins completely. Quote:I hear that is from sulphur in the paper. My wife bought a 2000 ASE form our bank back when they sold them. They put in one of those money envelopes that have and she left it in that thing for eight years and it turned almost jet black. I dipped it in tarnex and sold it for melt. As noted here and pending on how long they are in there, coins could get really messed up. The Window sill method works fantastically although many things are to be considered doing this. On a kitchen window sill there are many people that cook differently and in different situations. Some cook with a lot of moiture and some keep everything covered. Some keep the windows open, some closed, some face the South, Some have no outside visibility at all. Many people today use a Microwave cooker for everything and some bake everything. Time of coins left on a window can also make a great difference. Many people think it put there in the evening, the next morning all will be done. Quote: Those coins have been extensively cleaned and at one time were polished to the point of looking like a proof. The peocess has been months and those coins are still on that window sill. They've toned down and are still darkening a bit but it is taking time. |
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Valued Member
Philippines
386 Posts |
Quote:
That is a very interesting piece! It looks like the design could have been inspired by the Cap & Rays 8 Reales but in 1770 they didn't exist yet so whats the story on that coin? RealPeso, yes these only existed later in the early 1900's. I agree with silver exposing to sulfur is a very dangerous move to tone coins. Doing it the natural way by just exposure in air would produce a nice tone over time depending on the mixture contents of each coins. |
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New Member
United States
18 Posts |
Just bumping this thread for my own question instead of creating a new one.
I have some coins with old cleaning that need some darkening to look better, but they're fairly valuable and I'm not quite comfortable with having several hundreds of dollars of stuff just sitting on a windowsill. I keep my coins in a safe deposit box, so I'm wondering if there's anything that I can keep them in that will do the job in a cool, dark environment in the span of a few months. Thanks for all help.
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Replies: 9 / Views: 2,075 |
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Posted 11/16/2010 3:56 pm
