Ruben, With all due respect, that statement is just plain wrong. The colors that appear on the coin are simply a result of the thickness of the silver sulfide layer on the surface of the coin. A bag toned Morgan Dollar will show a rainbow effect because of the increasing thickness of the silver sulfide layer across the coins surface. The process is completely natural for the given method of storage. You posted a photo of what a real toned Morgan Dollar should look like. That coin was not bag toned, it appears to be album toned. Album toning and bag toning will result in markedly different toning patterns on a coin, and both are correct! Ruben, you accused me of campaigning in the other thread related to the AU64 concept. My question is this, who is campaigning now? You made 6 consecutive posts in this thread. If you are not campaigning against rainbow toning, what are you trying to accomplish? Every time this topic comes up, you bash rainbow toned coins and spout off about how the toning is damage and unnatural. I know that I have posted this link before, but I would like you to actually read it this time. Tom provides and excellent scientific write up of the toning process on coins. http://www.ivyleaguecoin.com/scienceoftoning.html BTW: I am planning to create a thread that lists the different types of toning with photographic examples. The purpose of the thread will be educational not an attempt to recruit new members for my rainbow toning cult. Please don't bash the thread when I post it.
Paul, I have seen you post this before and I never got around to reading it. I finally did (what can I say, I'm avoiding studying right now) and I found it an excellent read. It really cleared up some of the misconceptions I had about toning. Thanks for posting it. Probably the biggest key of the article for me is the following quite which explains something that I was unaware of:
Thank you very much for quoting that. For the record, I respect Tom's opinions as much as anyone I have ever encountered on coin chat boards. He is extremely knowledgeable and has helped me personally with toning related issues over the last year. He posts mainly on the NGC and PCGS boards. If you didn't get a chance, check out his gallery. He has a 1939-D PCGS MS68 FB that I consider to be one of the top 5 rainbow toned Mercury dimes in existence. Tom follows the coin collecting method that Spock alluded to in another thread. He will only buy monster coins and is extremely discriminating in his purchases. He does not have the biggest collection, but the quality of his coins is unquestionably phenomenal.
Lehigh96, Just catching back up to this thread. I have to say your rainbow Morgan is a stunning coin, in my opinion. As everyone says over and over, coin collecting is all about what you like, and I have to say I really like the look of your coin. If I had the chance to buy one like that and had the money in hand, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I was so surprised at the coin show at how many of the dealers were really focused on toned coins, and I've begun to notice them more and more. Heritage has had a number of them in recent auctions. As regards to hiding the detail of the coin, many of the toned Morgans I looked at at the show I felt had their detail enhanced by the toning, as I believe is the case with yours. In some of the cases I saw, when the toning is circular around the rim, it can really draw your eye to the motif. I'll read the article you posted, and will be very interested when you start your thread. Thanks for sharing that coin. :thumb: John
Thanks for the kind words John, I appreciate it. For accuracy's sake, the rainbow toned PCGS MS68 coin is not mine. It currently resides in the Sunnywood collection. However, if he ever sells that coin, it will be mine, I don't care what it costs. I would pay $25K for that coin right now! If you guys want to see an incredible set of toned Morgan Dollars, check this out. His collection makes my toners look like trinkets. The cornerstone of his set is the 1881-S MS68. http://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/publishedset.aspx?s=16420 One day, it will be mine. Paul
Paul, I hear you. I went to the link you provided, and wow! To my earlier point, and this is just my opinion, even the first coin in his collection has toning that really highlights the motif on the coin -- the subtleties of the toning highlights the details in the hair, and pulls your eye to various aspects of the coin. Sometimes when I look at a blast white Morgan everything seems to wash out in the same tone. I own mostly white (silver), or as some would say, natural Morgans, but the toning is really interesting me. It obviously is doing so to many others -- I just hadn't been exposed to the toning as much before. As was mentioned previously, I wonder how this will play out over time. But, if you are collecting for the love of the coins, shouldn't matter as much. John
His 1902-O is a great example of where I think toning enhances the coin and really helps bring out the detail in the coin. It is like in a great painting the play of light and shadow enhances the three dimensionality of the picture, so on the coin. My opinion only. John
Actually, I really like his 1903 and 1921. Subtle, but still great toning. Not too overbearing as some of those other ones are (IMO).
I lurk here all the time...post some of the time and have been quite frustrated with all the negative, confrontational posts by mrbrklyn....something we can certainly do without.
Ruben my friend, you have a bit to learn about toning. Yes, brightly colored toning is a result of contamination if you wish to put it that way. But that contamination can be the result of many different things. Most often, it is just the air. But in various parts of the country the air can be quite different. And different air does different things to coins. It also does different things to other silver objects, like candlesticks, silverware, plates and serving dishes. Yes, I have often seen rainbow toning on all of the above. Spent more than 1 Saturday as a kid trying to polish it all off. How silver tones depends entirely on its environment. And just because you have never seen it pal - doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. And Paul, contrary to popular belief, rainbow toning on a coin is not always the result of bag toning. There are 2 ways that bag toning is typically identified. One is if the coin has come in contact with the bag itself - that results in what is most often called textile toning because you can actually see the threads of the canvass bag toned onto the coin. The other, although it is not always the cas ebut most think it is, is when when you see a crescent shaped toned arc across the coin. This occurs because 1 coin was covering a portion of the underlying coin - that's what forms the crescent. But the rainbow color, it could have been a bag or it could have been a cardboard box with coins stacked inside. Under the right conditions both will result in the same thing. Bottom line, there are very, very few cases where the cause of any particular toning can be positively identified. There are exceptions of course like textile toning and tab toning, but virtually all other toning can be the result of various things - regardless of how it looks or if it is rainbow or not. And while toning does indeed form a protective patina on the surface of the coin, if it is left unchecked the toning can and will progress to the point that it becomes corrsoive. It might take a while, but it will.
Doug, I am planning on creating a post within the next week that identifies the different types of toning and give photographic examples of both. I am aware that not all Morgans are the result of bag toning, but it is very likely the the majority of one sided toned Morgans, especially common dates, are bag toned. I have always said that a coin must be separated from its toning source and stored properly to prevent further corrosion. However, once that is done, the corrosion stops.
<I lurk here all the time...post some of the time and have been quite frustrated with all the negative, confrontational posts by mrbrklyn....something we can certainly do without.> +10000
I have no strong opinion on the matter. I'd take a toned coin, I'd take a blast white coin. I think there should be no premium or discount for either one. Of course, that is with the exception of artificially toned coins, I feel they deserve a significant markdown.
i dont care what anyone says, i love everthing from cameo to proof & blazing white to DEEP TONING, i like them all...
This coin is unfreakinbelievably georgeous. Besides being a 68 that toning is awesome. Alas, with my luck, if I owned it it would probably tone black.:rolling: Bruce
please excuse my ignorance.. but is 20$ for 1878 morgan (normal circulated condition, uncolored) too expensive? Either ways.. i took the plung and it happens to be the most expensive coin i have bought and the pride of my collection . I love it.. especially the eagle, the symbol of american history..