High-End and Monster Rainbow Toned Morgan Dollars - Gallery and Research Article

Hey everybody. I've been away for awhile from this arena but I thought that since many of my friends post here, I would let you guys know of a new article I wrote to help folks appreciate high-end and monster toned Morgan dollars.

Please read through the article and enjoy the gallery of high-end and monster toned Morgans that I have imaged over the past couple of years. The article is quite large and I plan on adding much information to it along with updating the gallery when I get high-end or monster toners under my camera. I would emplore knowledgable members to contact me with any additional information I can add to the article to help collectors appreciate high-end toned Morgans and to warn them what to look out for when buying them.

Also, if you have pictures of artificially toned Morgan dollars, I am compiling a catalog of them and will be adding what I have shortly. Since most coin doctors have certain "looks" to the crap they create, seeing images of them will help collectors to match patterns with the doctors then match the doctor to the submission of that certified coin, if the coin is actually certified. I've been looking all over the web for a comprehensive article on toned morgans and if they are there, they are well-hidden.

High-End and Monster Toned Morgan Dollars Research Article and Gallery -
Sorry I had to remove link , even though it had reference articles, it is also a sale site, and as such not allowed in posting


I have thick skin. If you see information that is wrong, please feel free to post it or email me at brandon@jhonecash.com and we'll get it straightened out. It doesn't matter how you get it to me or if it embarasses me for saying something wrong. What is important is that the right information gets into the article. This is a living, breathing article and gallery. The more information we can provide to collectors, the less will get burned and get turned off from toned coins and numismatics in general.

Also, if you have any toned morgans you feel should be displayed in the gallery, I would love to image them.

If this is breaking any forum rules, I sincerely apologize. That was not the intention. Just trying to bring light to some information I worked hard to compile and present nicely.

Enjoy!

-Thanks,
-Brandon Kelley
-brandon@jhonecash.com

 

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Brandon,

That is an outstanding article (Jhon E Cash Rainbow Toned Morgan Dollars) and I have bookmarked it in my favorites. Both Shane (Kryptonitecomics) and Chris (RCtoners) have some photos of very convincing AT Morgans if I am not mistaken.

I wanted you to know that I still own one of the coins photographed in your article: mid-high coin #2. I have always loved the names you give your coins for sale, I dubbed this one: The Pink Eye Dollar.



And just so we can appreciate your numismatic photography skills, here is my photo of the same coin.



BTW, I think the mods are going to edit your phone# out of the post.

 

Wow. Fantastic article. I especially liked the part about how to spot AT.

 

Is the color progression the same for other silver coinage?

 

Greg,

Here is a link to a thread on the CU forums written by Sunnywood. It is the best reference I have ever seen regarding the color progressions of toned coins.

A Color Chart for the Thin Film Color Progression

BTW, "The Moose" in Brandon's article was the cornerstone of the Sunnywood collection of rainbow toned Morgan Dollars and is widely considered the finest rainbow toned Morgan Dollar in existence.

Paul

 

Basically yes. However, since we know how the vast majority of Morgans were stored (in canvas bags), we have a better litmus test for toned Morgans than most other coins. For instance alot of twenty cent pieces have deep progressions of toning and depending on the surface quality at the time the toning began, can have some strange variations in how the toning developed over an already worn surface. Morgans went fresh into the bags.

 

Excellent. Thanks Paul. There sure is a lot to learn!

 

So much to learn. I can appreciate the time you took to create the article. It has truly opened my eyes in reagrds to AT Morgans at the same time elevating my interest in the NT's. They are truly beautiful. Thanks again!

 

For those interested, the OP's article can be found here:

Jhon E. Cash Monster Rainbow Toned Morgan Dollars

Great article btw!

 

Great info and the picture comparison is excellent thank you

 

Haha, one of the Morgans you show as AT in your article is this one on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/1886-P-Morgan-R...33?pt=Coins_US_Individual&hash=item1e61c4c189

 

Just Awesome!!

 

What a wonderful article Mr Kelley, This will be saved and read over and over again

 

That was a great article. I saw two factual errors (IMO) in it:

"Additionally, the little piece of foreign material on the top cotton ball has a bright halo around it. That is an indication of accelerated toning. Run from this. "

There are plenty of coins that are 100% naturally toned and show this type of halo around foreign material.

"A toned Morgan with this characteristic [i.e. pullback toning] is almost undoubtedly naturally toned as AT and IT methods use accelerated methods to achieve color will not display this characteristic."

There are plenty of examples of AT coins (and secondary toned coins in which you can't rule out AT) that have pullback toning.

 

Regarding the halo. True, there are a few naturally toned coins that show this halo. I should have clarified that on a "suspected AT" coin, when you see that halo effect, that should be the nail in the coffin."

Regarding the pullaway. You are correct. Some AT coins have the pullaway effect. However, if the coin does not have pullaway effect, then start looking for other characteristics to determine AT/NT This is why this is in the article:

"

The vast majority of NT coins have pullaway
Not all NT coins have pullaway
Pullaway on AT coins is nearly non-existant
Coins with pullaway are NEARLY ALWAYS NT​

"
"Now, I have seen examples of AT coins that have pullaway. However, docs have gotten wind of this characteristic and will buy coins that have some natural toning on them with the pullaway and apply AT or IT processes to put more color on the coin. Always be wary of your AT spidey sense. If you see enough naturally toned morgans, when you see an AT coin, a red flag will go up in your mind and you will know it is AT. Develop this sense and you will be fine. Ignore it, and you will eventually buy an AT coin. "

Maybe I'll change the wording of the clip you pulled. Let me do that right now. It now reads:

"A toned Morgan with this characteristic is almost undoubtedly naturally toned as AT and IT methods use accelerated methods to achieve color will generally not display this characteristic. However, just because a Toned Morgan does not have the pullaway effect, does not necessarily mean the coin is artificially toned and inversely, just because a toned morgan exhibits pullaway, does not mean the coin is NT. However, if it does have pullaway, odds are good it is NT but do not let that be the only factor you check when determining AT/NT. "

This is good stuff people. Keep the critiques and corrections coming.

 

Very good insight. You are correct on many of your points. I have put disclaimers in the article stating:

"Additionally, please let this article serve you as a guide on what to watch out for when buying toned Morgans. Nobody can make a guarantee that you won't eventually buy an AT coin just because you read this article but arming yourself with the knowledge to weed out and avoid blatantly obvious artificially toned Morgans will significantly reduce that possibility. Once you have seen enough naturally toned Morgan dollars, your "spidey-sense" will develop and whenever you come across an artificially toned coin, that "something just isn't right" feeling will kick-in."

Just as no coin you buy can be guaranteed to be properly graded just because you read a guide on coin grading, as is this guide for toned morgans. If you read and absorb all the knowledge put into the article, the chances of you buying an AT coin will be greatly diminished.

The problem I see with there being NO article like mine is that too many people get burned buying crappy or AT coins because there is no place to study up on what to buy and what to look out for. Nothing in life is a guarantee. Not even PCGS or NGC graded coins!

It is about time that there be a cumulative article safeguarding Toned Morgan collectors from AT coins by showing AT examples, what characteristics to look for in NT coins, and what characteristics to look for when weeding out AT examples.