Why are toned coins so popular?

Seriously? It was slabbed by the Historic Society. Doesn't appear to be resurfaced. However, there are slight cracks in the coin holder on the reverse of the coin holder. Air could of gotten in there first. I'll get a full scan of it eventually today if you'd like to see closer. The card has a little corrosion on it from the front and reverse where possibly water damage got to the edge of the coin at one time. But so does the Mercury Dime have spots of bad corrosion. I don't think they were cleaned, let alone plated. But, the glare of the coin holder itself has a rainbow toning The only corrosion spots were obvious under stereo-microscope. Gold & Red toning reverse side only. White spots obverse side.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

It's been interesting reading this thread. Pretty obvious from it that it's all a matter of taste. Do you like coins that are more colorful, even if that means they are corroded (it does). Years ago "blast white" was all the rage for silver. Now the rage is colorful and "attractive" (to someone) toning. Do we all agree on what's attractive? Of course not. I'm sure at some point brightness will take over again. The early copper stuff I collect is nearly always toned. If anything is too red we look at it with suspicion. It was not always that way.

 

The VAST VAST VAST majority of "bright" 1943 cents are replated. Actual unmessed with 1943 cents are kind of uncommon.

 

I can guarantee with 100% certainty that it won't change his mind lol

And nor should it, he likes what he likes just like fans of Northern Lights collection type stuff do.

 

I recalled in the early 1980's when they reported a majority had been replated though. Also, finding true uncleaned & untouched UNC zinc/steel cents was scarce, but not impossible.

 

I'm still in love with BU Frosty White Silver American Eagles though. Great observation.

 

I used to feel the same way, too, but after looking at a lot of Morgan dollars at auction sites, I noticed that some of the toned ones looked really pretty. Do a Google search on the Northern Lights Collection and you might be amazed at how beautiful some of them look, with jade, magenta, chartreuse, deep blue and other colors in the coins. Legends Coin Auctions just concluded an auction of some of the Northern Lights collection. You should go to their website and take a look. You might change your mind. I agree with a lot of the other posters that blast white Morgans are a dime a dozen.

 

I'm a rare breed where I like toned coins but am not a fan of "monster" toned ones. A lot of the ones that really stand out to me I get at discounts because they're not for everyone. I like high grade Morgans that have a rusty look to them. Like a super old car that has been taken great care of but has the rust that proves it's been around awhile. That appeals to me.

Just another example of "to each their own".

 

Sorry if I've exasperated you. But you need to look at this from my perspective. I'm a total noob, I come here and post a picture of a GSC coin that sparks a HUGE (excuse the expression) pissing match between 2 apparently esteemed, experienced numismatists. One says he's made 8-10 purchases from the seller in question and has had the same experience that I've had, that they will send you the coin shown in the photos on eBay. So from my POV, Kurt is right, so yes I took his side.

Now I don't know squat about Lehigh, and he may very well be right. He may have purchased a coin or more from GSC in the past and been burned. He didn't come right out and state this though I may have missed it if he did.

So now, if you were me, who would you be more inclined to side with? It may be that BOTH of them are correct, maybe Kurt & I have been lucky and got coins that we're totally happy with. Maybe Paul had the opposite experience with this seller, maybe he's just regurgitating what others that have had bad experiences with GSC have stated, I have no way of knowing. I can only go by my personal experience (extremely limited though it may be) and proceed with caution in the future when considering a purchase from GSC.
YRMV.

 

In defining "monster" I assume those that look like the color of the rainbow ?

 

Yeah the ones like the Northern Lights collection that go for huge premiums are what most consider "monster" toned.

Google "monster toned morgan dollar" and you'll get a lot of images like this one which are just not my thing but grab huge premiums often:

 

Yep, my thoughts but I've seen some use 'monster' to reference deep colored ones, blues and purple, single colors.

 

D-Train,

I have noticed a phenomenon I call "CoinTalk old guard groupthink". The long timers decide something about something and that's it - it's over, and it's never going to change, because it's "decided" and that's that. They're never going to look at it again. Harrumph! Harrumph!

Well excuse me, but that's nothing but overdressed bigotry.

 

Lehigh without question. There are numerous threads on the PCGS forums (Collectors universe) the NGC forums and here that you can search and see why some people say what they say. Now I don't believe in absolutes so yes it is certainly possible to get good coins and good deals there just as it is possible to get shafted by a top seller from time to time, the thing is though when you look at the overall body of work those occasions look like outliers.

I will buy from anyone if I am confident I can decipher the pictures, the problem is a lot of people think they can that can't. My sigh was more just the generalization you had made, you had made off of one purchase. Good sellers can have a bad sale just like bad ones can have a good one, one event does not make or break a reputation especially when they do 10s of thousands of sales a year

 

No one would ever consider me a long timer nor an old timer

 

Hmm, if that's the case, then your logic has just backfired on you! How come, over the past 12 months, GSC has 1000 positive reviews to every negative one? Are the other 999 reviews posted by noobs like me that don't know any better? Or perhaps, just maybe, they are being treated unfairly? I always look at a sellers feedback rating, negative feedbacks before deciding if I should buy from them. That's just common sense. Caveat Emptor!

 

We are getting off the posts question you bunch of old timers..........

 

You have been one of two of (oops, three with Doug) my "antagonists" on this one issue. You have been pretty reasonable and unemotional about it, unlike Lehigh, who gets REALLY REALLY over-the-top upset about GSC.

Here's something to consider. You three have "sworn off" GSC before I ever looked at them for the first time. Do you think maybe somehow somewhere in the chain of transaction something could've changed? Tech? EBay? GSC? It seems that possibility is never considered. I have NEVER ONCE had a GSC coin photo not match the coin in hand.

Here's another thought. I don't buy for color. Getting color right on photos is tough. Do you think that could make a difference? It's entirely plausible to me that an uber-Mac daddy-color specialist like Paul would have a different perspective from me.

 

Negative feedback is easy to get removed as a large seller. A lot of people don't bother to leave feedback either way even with a return.

Possibly.

Sigh