Hi im new to this i dont know how to start a new thread and i dont understand the guide to do it. I will post in here instead i dont hope it will make anyone mad. My questions are can anyone tell me if the toning on my coin is artificial or authentic? What is your opinion on this coin?
Welcome to Coin Talk! I’ve asked the moderator to move your post to our ancients forum. Enjoy our neighborhood Larry
It's a handsome Trajan denarius and I think the toning is original "cabinet toning", which is a good thing.
In my experience with American coins, I’ve seen this type of toning form after a piece has been dipped or cleaned. From the aspect that it was not put there with a conscious effort, it’s not exactly artificial, but it is the result of the chemicals that were used to dip or clean piece that were not removed entirely. Some people really like these colors, but I am not one of those collectors who will pay a premium for them. If I like other aspects of the coin, I’ll consider buying it.
toning is an oxidizing reaction that occurs to the metal of your coin over time. It is caused by either oxygen (usually slower) or sulfur. your coin has been around for 1900 yrs. and has had plenty of time to be in contact with these elements. Also, in the not too distant past many of these ancients were stored in sulfur containing envelops which toned the metal . Would this toning be called artificial? I don't think so, but that would be up to one's point of view. Bottom line is you have a very nice looking Trajan denarius, nearly 2000 years old that any of us would be proud to own.
Natural toning for a 1900 year old piece of silver would be dark gray to black. Almost all ancients have been cleaned but some may have been cleaned before the first US coin was made. Many of us have coins that we know have been in a collection for over a hundred years. The standards for terms like 'natural' have to be applied differently for ancient coins than for recently made things like silver dollars. You coin looks fine to me. Whether it got that way from storage in 'bad' paper, oak cabinets, big city pollution or dirty fingers of collectors not afraid to touch their coins makes little difference.
Thank you very much Hi John and thanks, i only have to Trajan coins that i bought recently. Unfortunatly i had to sell my collection of ancient coins because i ended up having no income. But now where i have had some one day jobs now and then and a period of work in two weeks i could afford buying some coins again. Im still looking for a full time job but it will come i just need to keep searching.
