All I am trying to do is understand exactly what makes people so enamored of them. Instead it seems that more people are trying to convince me I am wrong. You seem to be the first to accept that there is nothing wrong either way.
I find Robec's toned coins to be not only beautiful but artful and even breath-taking. I find highly graded red coins to be appealing and I find naturally toned coins to be appealing AND interesting as a further bonus. I also believe that if you collect toned coins, you can educate yourself to recognize AT and be quite able to avoid buying any of them. As with any area of coin collecting, if you study and learn, you can become an expert at your particular area, sometimes exceeding the dealers and even the graders who are burdened with having to learn something about every series. The specialist can protect themselves quite adequately IMHO.
I agree...the second is more attractive.... The rage for environmentally damaged coins is partially fueled by new collectors who are 'told' that tarnish is a good thing... then you have the coin doctors that 'make' these coins...and still people pay unbelievable premiums for them....the coin doctors are making a fortune.
I figure that as long as there's a premium for a coin with an altered surface, there's incentive for people to alter the surface of existing coins. That's what bugs me about big toning premiums, and also about lowball-registry-driven premiums for worn coins.
jeffB..... I totally agree..... it will be a shame, in the future - could be soon - could be a few years - when people wake up to the amount of AT flooding the market - many, many of which are in PCGS and NGC slabs...and the prices crash....Just like finding out the painting one paid a fortune for, is a counterfeit....In our case, the coin may be real, but the 'painting' is phony...... and there are hundreds of thousands out there...
No, like the difference between a "real" diamond and a lab-grown one. The "real" one has the advantage of legal and marginally-legal "protection" by the diamond cartel, which is striving with all its might to keep the flood of ever-cheaper, molecularly identical synthetic diamonds from killing their golden goose. All In My Opinion, of course.
You don't realize it yet for some reason but your question has already been answered - as best it can be. To help illustrate that let me ask you a question, what's your favorite flavor of ice cream ? And then tell me why it is. Your answer to why will be because you like the way it taste. But what you won't be able to tell is why you like that taste more than any other. Same thing with toning. It's all a matter of individual taste. And there is no right or wrong. It just is - chocolate and vanilla.
Okay, fair enough. I missed the reference to chocolate or vanilla earlier because I don't eat ice cream but I get your point.
I like ice cream, chocolate or vanilla AND toned coins. I'm careful about which toned coins though...I don't like AT coins. Here is one of my toned coins and I think it is authentically toned
It's just like any other preference in the coin world. I can't personally get into lincolns at all and from my observations they may be the most highly collected coin there is. I don't judge people who collect lincolns it's just not for me. I love toned silver coins but strangely enough I actually don't like so called "monster toned" ones that really seem to sell for the highest premiums. I find myself most drawn to rim toning especially blue. I posted this yesterday in the US Coin forum. I've never bought a coin so quickly in my life seeing this one. I paid $360 for it and if you offered me 1k right now I'd decline.
IBetASilverDollar said; "I've never bought a coin so quickly in my life seeing this one. I paid $360 for it and if you offered me 1k right now I'd decline." And that is how you should feel! When you find a coin you love, hang on tight to that baby! I know that's how I feel about my fave coins. That is a very nice coin you found. I'm not a big silver guy - obviously I'm into Lincolns but - I never look down on collectors because they might collect something different than me. That just seems closed-minded.