Does every old envelope have sulfur in it? How can you tell?

I've never tried this, but want to try to tone a Bust Half in an envelope. At a relative's house, they have a hot and humid spot that I could place it in over the summer. I don't know how to tell what envelopes have sulfur because most sold now are "sulfur free"...was there a year before all paper had it? I was thinking about buying an old used envelope with a stamp on it to prove how old it is maybe?

 

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Not sure how much help you will get on this. I, personally would not recommend artificially toning any coin.

 

The old brown envelops may have some.

Also, the old Max Meh. albums did have some and are famous for their toning

 

Any recycled paper will have sulfur in it. Get the cheapest , roughest ,brownest brand ~ probably some that society has to supply, toilet paper or paper towels and wrap the coin in it and put into a zip lock for a while. Max effect probably from wet shredded cardboard ( shred it first). I do not recommend this method as it is easier to control with liquid sodium sulfite solution ( same as the paper products), but it is AT of course. Jim

 

Why not try to tone a 1964 Kennedy or Franklin half as a test,
before ruining a bust half? And I have to agree with post #2.
Throw some old cardboard in there. That is sure to ruin it with AT.

 

Lots of negative remarks? I thought envelope toning was kind of acceptable.

 

Anything you do intentionally is considered AT.
Personally, I don't even care for NT.
People like rainbow colors, but I think that fad is ending. If a majority of
perfectly formed rainbow toning is now discovered to be AT that's going to
affect the value and people will be stuck with over priced coins.

 

I like my coins "as is". I don't care for coins that meet someone else's perception of eye appeal. I like toned coins if I am sure that the toning is natural.

 

Not really, some people like toning others can't stand it as it's a form of corrosion. Anything you do intentionally to a coin is AT. If you must, practice on a common date silver coin first. Bust Halves are much better if original.

 

Someone on here asked about some quarters yesterday but they were a massive mess!! Yes the quarters were toned technically but nobody I know likes fugly silver, ever. The toning I like is rare and truly a one of a kind coin like this half dollar I sold awhile back.

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/are-these-coins-toned.340619/#post-3567395

 

If the TPGs decided to be tougher with rainbow toned coins in the future, then the value of already graded examples will likely increase.

 

If you have an old bust half that is overdipped, as in blast white, you can put it in an old Whitman envelope where it will regain some tone. It will NOT give it crazy colors, but will darken or crust it up a bit. This is frowned upon by some, but considered conservation by others, since you are restoring the coin to the state it was in before it was ruined with dip. The key is to intervene minimally.

 

Except those graded examples are phonies. And will not command a higher price as the market will fall for those coins if no one wants them at sky high prices anymore once the word is out they are AT.
When rainbow toned coins were all the rage, the market shot up for these coins. People paying 10x what the coins were actually worth.
Once that prevailing mentality changes, it has no place to go but down.

 

I can’t see a problem with envelope toning, especially when it’s the type that takes years to form. It’s how the original toning got there.

As for these continuing comments about how all toning is corrosion, perhaps we a different definition of corrosion. To me corrosion is oxidation that has or is in the process of destroying the coin. Toning is a thin natural layer of oxidized metal that serves to protect the coin if the piece is properly stored.

If you purists think that all toning is bad, then most all you will collect will be modern coins, some Morgan and Peace Dollars and other coins that have been dipped or cleaned.

This gets back to a self-styled “expert” who got the ear of the editors of “Coin World” 20 to 25 years ago. He got to write a series of front page “news stories” that stated that all silver coins with toning were “damaged” and destined to turn as black as coal. His articles should have been on the editorial page. They were only opinions.

Given proper storage, that might be true if you held the piece for a couple thousand years, but I don’t think I will be collecting for that long. I’ve owned some toned silver coins for 40 years, and they have not changed. My avatar, an 1805 dime, is a prime example.

 

Dr. White must be suffering an apoplexy with all interest in wildly toned coins. I recall the debate he sparked about toning is damage and I even wrote a rebuttal that was published as the Viewpoint column in the Op Ed.

I’ve used older light brown coin envelopes on a sunny windowsill with mixed results. Heavily polished coins seem to form patchy toning that doesn’t improve the appearance.

 

I put this coin in an manila envelope 55 years ago and replaced the storage method (2x2) 8 or 9 years ago.

 

He hurt the market for original toned coins for a while with his articles. He also encouraged more dipping, which is not a good thing. Dipping should be a move of last resort when the coin is too ugly to sell or the toning on the piece is somehow very active and damaging the piece.

Slowly developed retoning can't help polished and badly hairlined coins which have been ruined by cleaning. it can help circulated coins that should not have been cleaned or dipped.

 

green18 post #16
Is that a success or a failure?