proof nickel toner

Hey, all.

I wanted to share some pics that Blu CC took for me at the 2010 Spring MSNS show. I've been wanting to post them, but never got around to it. He had been telling me how difficult it was to photograph toned proofs, so I had to test him out!

Anyway, I was walking by the cases of a dealer I've purchased nickels from before. This baby caught my eye, and I immediately did a double-take. The guy didn't say a word -- he just took the coin out of the case and handed it to me. He then said he knew exactly what coin I was looking at.

We bargained a little (not necessary -- for this one I would have paid what he wanted), and it went home with me. I did show it to about 5-6 dealers at the show that I knew were into toners. Every single one asked me if it was for sale. There were some questions raised as to AT/NT, but the consensus was that it made it into plastic, and that was good enough for an offer to be made.

So, here she is:

 

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along came a smurf,and ate my grape.I think it is awesome.love it,and I can only imagine how difficult it is to photograph.

 

That's a beautiful toned nickel. :thumb:

 

Wow! I love it! Thanks so much for sharing this pic with us.

 

What makes the color change like that? and how can you tell if its a "fake" or not?

 

Nice! Very nice.

 

One of the nicer tones nickels I've seen. thanks for sharing.

 

Thank you all very much. I like it a great deal.

It's really tough to describe artificial toning (which, I think, you describe as "fake.") It usually just it too brilliant of toning. The colors often look really bright, like someone took a crayon to them. Also, the toning changes from one area of the coin to another can be quite abrupt, which is usually a sign of an AT coin.

Coins that are heated, or treated with cigarette (or other) smoke, have a brownish, dull appearance, or are toned pretty darkly.

This particular coin is very brilliant, and while the colors are wild, I don't see anything in particular that points to an artificially-toned coin. Coins like this are seen sometimes in proof sets of the 1960s, but in the 1950s, they are quite unusual.

I still haven't made up my mind 100% on this coin yet, on the question of AT vs. NT, but I'm leaning toward NT, or else I wouldn't've bought it.

 

Be careful. Heating coins doesn't necessarily make them "toned pretty dark". Try it yourself with some pocket change.

 

p.s. your coin is very pretty. congrats!

 

Thank you. its looks like a very nice coin i was just looking to buy one or a couple but i dont no what to look for or what im looking for. but thanks for that

 

It looks NT to me, because I have a few Jefferson's 57s - 64s Proof like that (on your second picture near the date is what the toning on my jefferson looks like (roughly) to give you an idea)

nice looking coin

 

that is one awesome nickel and i also need someone that can take pics like that for my peace dollar.

 

Sorry, Leadfoot...I was only speaking in generalities. Heat-toned coins that I've seen are usually darker tones, but I realize they don't have to be.

Lugia: <Note: This is not a solicitation, as I realize it is outside of the rules/policies of this forum. It is merely an endorsement. Pregnant women, the elderly, and children under 10 should not read this post. This post may suddenly accelerate to dangerous speeds. This post contains a liquid core, which, if exposed due to rupture, should not be touched, inhaled, or looked at. Do not use this post on concrete. There. That should be enough.>

Lugia, I cannot recommend Blu CC's services enough. They are relatively inexpensive (disclaimer: My 2 coins were free) and he does great work.

 

great looking coin. he takes great pics. if he is at the fall show i have a proof for him to take pics of!

 

can a coin still tone even if its slabbed? call me crazy but i have 1981-S proof dcam washington quarter i would love to see toned like that, that is currently slabbed.

 

I'd be willing to bet that proof Jefferson came out of the flat pack vs. the box set for that year. I have owned some sets from 1955 on, all in pilofilm packs where the nickel toned brilliant colors, including pink.

Now, a problem arose with NGC and PCGS where all of a sudden there was a huge influx of toned Jefferson proofs all arriving from the same area, Chicago. I'm not saying the grading services exchanged notes, but something was afoot.

They took more than a second look at these current submissions and decided the coins were more manipulated than normal and returned them "questionable" . This was when both services used so-called "body-bags" a no-grade flip with the rejection tag attached. It sent a strong message to the submitter that they were no longer going to accept brilliantly toned Jefferson proofs.

There is a very good chance that some "enhanced" Jefferson nickels made it into top tier holders, which ones, no one really knows...wait, perhaps the Doctor in the Chicago area can tell us?

Happy Collecting

 

Joey, a coin still can tone even if it's slabbed, although it is likely to do so at a much slower rate. Most slabs are not 100% airtight, but they are close. The less exposure to air and contaminants (sulfur), the slower the rate of toning.

BR549: I did hear quite a bit of this from dealers at the MSNS show. They were saying how tough it is to get nicely-toned material slabbed during the last several months. This is all secondhand information, as I haven't submitted anything myself recently, but I heard from at least half a dozen dealers that NGC and PCGS are refusing an awful lot of material. That's why I was happy to have this one in a newer NGC holder.

 

I suggest reading the book Coin Chemistry by W.White. It's a bit dated now, but he was able to tone coins in slabs using hydrogen sulfide. I hope they have improved the slabs since he test them, but he definately showed it was possible.

 

This is true. I've had NGC bag a few toners over the past year that were definately NT. I submitted using my dealer and he has also had a lot of coins get bagged that were NT. In one case, he bought a very old album, the coins must have been in it for 50 years.....NGC rejected them all as "artificial color". BAH, he was so upset he stopped using NGC.