> "Both those coins look secondary toned, and MA to me" - Leadfoot Leadfoot ... just curious ... what does "MA" mean?
It's interesting ... but based on the sellers [FONT="]technique to tell natural toning from artificial toning (See below) ... coin #2 (the 1874 half dime) is artificially toned since the fields and devices are toned the same ... thoughts? This could be a great technique if there are no exceptions[/FONT][FONT="]. "It is hard to tell AT vs NT from images. Here is one way to tell ... see the stars and note the tops of the stars are un-toned while the fields all around them are vividly toned. This is a sign of decades long natural toning, and cannot be duplicated by gassing or chemically treating a coin to artificially tone it. AT coins will have the devices and fields in small spaces all toned the same most of the time. You don't see the micro differences in toning from the fields to the devices like on this coin."[/FONT]
Treashunt, Leadfoot used MA in this context ... "Both those coins look secondary toned, and MA to me (XF 40 on first and 55 on second)." (so Mature Audiences doesnt fit) Yes, the seller was very nice ... still I think i agree that it's not an AU+ coin ... EF looks more accurate ... which means $199 was overpriced.
Great seller... mind posting his eBay name? I wouldn't mind giving him my business sometime. I still disagree with his grade. As for places to find coins, you can find them all over the place. Post a wanted ad in the Classifieds here, scope out collectors corner, and check out some of the other dealer sites you can find via a quick google search.
His ebay name is "rpholdercoins" http://shop.ebay.com/rpholdercoins/...=&_sticky=1&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14&_sop=3&_sc=1