The creation of Toned Coins?

Which brings up another subtlety when it comes to buying toned coins: being able to read between the lines when it comes to pics.

 

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:yes:I know this was commonly done 1950-1970. if a high grade coin had any carbon or strike dirt Coin shop owner would dip them in a 50/50 mix of Vinegar+Distilled water for about 15mins.them wash of with 100% distilled water. But ONLY Silver or Nickle.

 

Toning occurs from myriad environmental forces, some of which are incidental and "natural" while others are intentional and "artificial". I have studied and dealt with toned coins for many, many years and one way to be able to quickly pick out what is considered NT vs. what is considered AT is to have years, if not decades of experience looking at coins "in the wild". That is, how are specific eras, metals and packaging of coins typically found? This will tell you quite a bit about what to expect in terms of color and/or pattern.

 

Experience is the only answer. If you can find an experienced dealer to buy from, that would be invaluable. It would be helpful to also be able to see the work of what GOOD coin doctors can do, (not Ebay garbage), but most of those guys really don't advertise what they do.

Lehigh, (Paul), has some great posts going over color progressions and the like. He and I don't always agree on some things, but he is an excellent toned coin collector. I would highly recommend reading his posts, as well as Kryptonite's.

Above all else, until you KNOW why a coin is market acceptable versus not, please do not spend money on these. WAY too many beginners buy AT junk at first, and I always feel bad for them.