Is this a normal color or artificial?

Sorry, I am relatively new. I didn't know if coins normally turned a bluish color (I would assume not?) I was going to keep it because I liked the coloring, and kind of a glossed-over look that the pictures don't really show (not sure if there's a terminology for this LOL)- but was just curious if pennies could turn this color naturally. I tried to get it from different angles to capture the color but it is a shiny bluish brown. Thank you!

 

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It's not a bad looking coin, But I suspect the color to come from a washing machine, which would make it artificial.

 

Keep it if u like it!

 

Hey, Wannie, IRC, I’ve seen a lot of Cents tone pink and blue out of mint rolls. So yes it is natural toning. Pop it in a Mylar or cardboard flip and cherish it.

 

The coin COULD BE that color naturally. Your avatar's complexion? No way.

 

True, but that’s why I love my make up LOL

 

Just don’t be putting foundation on coins now, Wannie. They will come back with Details, Altered Surfaces. Lol.

 

HAHAHAHAHA. I will try not to!

 

No, that cent has had some chemical applied to it. Those colors are not usually found naturally on copper coins, especially not with that appearance.

 

I think Physics-Fan is more knowledgeable about toning than any of us here..... sooooo.... I stand corrected. The expert has spoken.

 

Disagree, I've seen the color so many times. As you can see, the color is UNDER the brown....completely natural. Here's an example from my collection:

 

Yup, the blue is more common than it usually lets on. Does it TYPICALLY show? Oh heck, no. But it does happen.

 

I don't want to revive this age old argument, because we've hashed and rehashed it more times than I can count. But the cent shown here has been treated by a chemical - that doesn't just happen on its own. You might have a brown cent with highlights, and then you treat it, and bam, out pops the blue.

 

I'll just let you hammer that out with Carl Waltz, Jr., and I'll just go get more popcorn. I know your work, and I ALSO know people with credentials who dispute what you write. I just got back from hanging out with several of them.

 

Yeah, they do. And there's nothing anybody can do about it.

Just a word of advice. If you're ever thinking of getting serious about the hobby, forget this "natural vs. artificial" business, and collect what turns you on. Nobody knows how to define those abstract terms in any way that means anything to anybody else, that's just the cold, hard truth. You'll be a happier collector for it, too.

 

Here is how weird Carl is, compared to the CoinTalk ethos: His display at Philly contained SEVERAL old Lincolns with SIGNIFICANT amounts of blue on them, all in PCGS slabs. EVERY one of his detailed photographs, was in black & white because to Carl, (you're not going to believe this, CT'ers), color is UTTERLY IRRELEVANT. Chew on THAT a little bit, folks. Yes, Carl is a fellow rural Pennsylvanian.

 

That is a very odd position to take, and I wholeheartedly disagree with it. Color is EXTREMELY important. For closeup die variety photographs, I agree that color can be a distraction - but there are few things more important to me than the eye appeal of a coin (of which color is a significant part).

 

All toning is nature - some of it is just helped along and sped up unnaturally. This one had something happen to it to give it the purple and blue colors without other colors.

 

I got a few '60's cents that I had in manila flips that I collected as a lad years ago. Some of the colors are breathtaking.......

 

Can you post pictures? Because I collect breathtakingly toned Lincoln cents, and I always want to see more. Here are some examples, which I believe to all be natural, and which are all TPG certified: