I have been collecting Indian Head cents for a little bit now. While photographing the ones I have so far I began to wonder about two of them. One has toned a very nice shade of blue and the other has a purple tone to it. SInce I'm trying for a set in EF-40 I was curious if this was a sign of cleaning or not? Most of the coins have that nice skin over them and are the colors (brown, maybe a little red here or there) that you'd expect on older bronze coins. These are the only two I have that have that kind of colorful toning. Sorry for the picture quality, I'm getting used to using my phone for pics again...
When I see that kind of toning on a circulated IHC, say below AU-58, I always suspect some doctoring. Even with MS coins that are raw, there are a lot of doctored coins out there. I know, I have bought a few. OTOH, there are some MS coins and many Proof IHCs in straight-grade slabs that are beautifully toned in these colors. So, my general rule is if the coin is raw and toned this way, I assume it's been artificially toned and just move on. If it's in a slab and straight-graded I'll give it a good long look. Now, it's your collection and if you like the look of these two coins, then by all means keep them in the collection. Just don't expect them to market well if you ever want to move them.
Thanks @Publius2 I had a feeling that was the case. Just chalking it up as a learning experience. There’s a strong hoarder streak to this collector so selling them won’t be much of an issue. They will be upgraded at some point but will still get to stay in the collection.
I see the toning over and in the scratches on both sides of the coin. That makes me think artificial. Otherwise, nice IHC's.
Thanks @Mr.Q I’m new to dealing with toned coins, it not really an interest for me. Good tip on seeing if the toning goes over or under blemishes.
They both look very weird to me. I'd call them WT, or Weird Toning. The TPGs call that "AT," sometimes "QT," but that means same thing, they don't care for it all that much. It's just tarnish, though. Frankly, I still don't know what the big deal is, you either like it or don't. They can't define those terms, they're arbitrary. Yet they continue on using them.
It's really hard to tell from your pics but I don't see anything that makes me think the coins have been harshly/improperly cleaned - which is what I assume you mean when you say "cleaning". That said, there is a very well known coin cleaner called MS70 that can be easily purchased almost anywhere that is infamous for turning copper coins a blue or purple shade when it used on them. MS70 truly works wonders when it used on clad or silver coins and it is not detrimental to them in any way. But on copper, it's a big no-no ! I'd bet a lot that's what happened to those coins. One also needs to understand that it's not at all uncommon for high AU or better copper coins to naturally tone various shades of blue or purple. But coins with more than very light wear on them, well circulated coins like those you posted - do not. Well circulated copper coins very, very rarely tone any color other than brown.
Thanks for the responses everyone!! I actually kind of like the toning on those two coins so like I said they get to stay in the collection. They’re just going to be updated at some point to untoned coins. @GDJMSP you kind of hit my reason for posting right on the head. I’ve only been collecting for about 15 years but had never come across coins with that much circulation in anything but brown (or bright orange if dipped).
