Couple questions about the toning process. Lets say you pull a beautiful toned coin out of an old Library of coins album. Is it an accurate assumption that the toning occured because of the album and its chemical makeup in the paper? Why would some coins in the album tone and not others? Is it have something to do with that particular planchet for the coin? If so, once you remove it from the album and put it in a flip or dansco etc, would the toning process stop progressing? Or is it that once it starts, it will continue even if it is removed from the source that made the reaction start? If you put modern coins in the old albums, would they tone over the years?
That's only part if it. For toning to occur it also requires temperature, humidity and air. And what's in the air. And what is in the air depends on a thousand different things. Not so much the planchet, but definitely the coin. Coins stored in the same album under the same conditions tone differently because of the coins themselves. Each coin is 100% unique. Each coin has varying degrees of luster, strike quality etc. And these things all alter the way that coin will tone.
Excellent response GD. Thank you. Is it possible for certain types of tones to actually reverse? I only ask this because I have a couple proof ike dollars that were in the brown box. They were VERY blue. I had moved them into a Dansco last year, and I swear it seems like the blue has faded a lot. Maybe its the contrast against the album color or maybe my eye site is fading.
Also, I will be putting a library of coins album full of bu, lusterous nickels, half of them currently with some tone, up in my attic this summer. Curiousity...
Sure the colors can change, that is the natural progression of toning. But the progression only goes one way, it never reverses. It can however under the right conditions start all over again.
Doug I don't understand how a coins toning can start over again unless the toning was removed by a light dip . I mean silver tones gold , then red , blue and finally black , can't see a blue toned coin suddenly start over to gold . Rusty
Agreed, I think it's the lighting... Early stages can be very translucent and can easily appear lighter or darker with a change in the lightening. Heck is was hard to get this photo cause the lighting has to be just right to capture the colors.
i have some pennies like that ike, i didnt know that it was toning, i just picked them out of the pennies becuase they looked cool,
Depends on the environmental conditions and storage medium. It can take weeks - months - years - decades to naturally tone coins. Key word is Naturally! Nickel is not as reactive as Silver or copper, and usually not as good looking. However I've seen some mean looking toned clad coins in about fifty shades of brown in full circle and crescent patterns!
OK - just think about it for a minute. A coin's original owner places it in his album. The coins starts to tone and gets a ring of color around the outer edge. Then that collector sells off his collection. The new owner of this coin then places this very same coin in an envelope. Or maybe he places it in a multi-coin plastic holder. The point is he uses a different storage medium than the original owner used. Now, since we know that toning is specific to storage methods and environment, once the coin is removed from the original storage medium that particular toning stops. But now the coin is in an entirely different environment, so toning starts all over again. But since toning protects metal and inhibits additional toning in those specific areas, the new toning starts in the previously untoned areas of the coin because those areas are not protected and are thus more susceptible to toning. Got the idea now ?
