Questions about toning

I read that toning takes a long time, but I sent a silver coin (that had little to no toning) to be graded and it came back heavily toned.

I was shocked. I thought it was a mistake, that it was a different coin, but after comparing it to a before picture, I can see it's the same coin.

By the way, I think the guy who actually submitted this coin to be graded may have sent it to NCS first. All I can think is that NCS dipped it in gasoline or something. :bigeyes:

Anyone else ever have this experience?

And I know everyone would want to see the before and after photos, but since I am only part owner, I should not. Suffice to say the before looks like an average grey/white/silver, and the after looks orange-blue in the center and blue-green on the edges.

 

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Why was the coin sent to NCS?

 

That's supposition on my part. I mean, how else could a coin change so drastically unless someone like NCS actively altered it?

 

How long did you possess the coin before being sent into the service, and how was it stored in the meantime? The reason I ask this is that chemical treatment such as dipping a silver coin leaves it in very unstable condition, (unless thoroughly buffered and rinse after dipping), that will induce a more rapid than normal reaction to sulfur components and produce a toning reaction.

Jim

 

It had been in an old sealed holder inside bank vault for probably 50 years.

I tried to simulate what I am talking about. This is not the coin, but the effect I see looks something like this only worse with more colors.

http://www.cointalk.com/forum/members/topo/albums/387/6141/

 

If the coin was taken from the original holder and put into the flip and sent to the service, I am at a loss for an answer. Toning is a chemical reaction and such color change can occur in just minutes if the solution is a strong sulfide solution. But I see no way such solution would be used in any normal context, especially since the resulting reaction is very unpredictable.

Jim

 

Well, I can't wait to see what the guy says happened. I hope it didn't affect the value of the coin.

 

Did the coin get a grade??

 

Yes. It was in the high 60s.

 

Can we see a picture?

 

wow, somethings up with that!

 

Yeah...somethings is weird here....looking forward to hearing what happened..

 

A better question would be, is the toning unattractive?

If not, count yourself very lucky! You have a high grade, multi-color toned coin, graded by one of the top TPGs. I bet the value is exponentially higher than if it was a plain silver coin.

I really don't see a problem here... lol.

 

:hail::hail:Exactly what I was just thinking. I wish the coins I sent in would come back more toned then when I sent them in. All I collect are toned morgans and a rainbow toned coin is woth substationally more.


Edit-
I was reading through this thread again and I have come to a conclusion. Your story REALLY seems to be missing some information. You say whoever sent it in had it sent to ncs first. So there must have been an issue with the coin to begin with. You have photos but wont post them due to being only part owner? What the heck is the point of being part owner if you cant even share photos of the coin. What type of coin are we even talking about? What year? what mint mark if any? What was the actual grade? Who graded the coin? What was the value of the coin to begin with? You say you are part owner, so does that mean its a 125,000 dollar coin, thats the only reason I would see being part owner? Coins can tone under heat pretty easily. I know people who have sent coins in during very hot summer months and had them come back toned almost a dark grey color. But as far as I can tell so far the story given just lacks any kind of real information to make any kind of a educated guess as to what happend.

 

Just a thought. The coins were in the bank for years with a stable temp. and humidity. Once removed could there have been a drastic change in either? Do you know the type of holder the coin was in when sent to be graded?

One other thought. Raw coins I image seem to turn out a bit lighter compared to those taken in slabs. Could the first images have been taken with a lot of light making them look much brighter?

 

I agree with you that there is a lot of needed information that hasn't been given. There is really no way to make any determinations about this coin with the facts we have.

It's well known that bank vaults aren't the best location to store coins. They aren't necessarily the optimal temperature or humidity and how knows what is in the other boxes that could be release agents into the air that could affect the coin.

 

All true. My thought was that it was stable for all these years and changed once removed. Changes in holders seem to bring up this topic.

 

That is true. I'm still interested as to why it was sent to NCS in the first place. Something must have been wrong with the coin to begin with.

 

I was speculating that the coin may have been sent to NCS because I couldn't believe a coin could change so much over such a short period of time unless something drastic had been done to it.

I was just curious if there was another plausible explanation. I mean, has anyone ever taken a coin out of a sealed holder and seen it turn from silver to blue-red-brown in a few days?

 

Still need the missing information before anything can be determined.