Picked up this Liberty Seated Half dollar. I was wondering if this blue color is a common thing for these types, or was this done intentionally? Possibly just warm storage for a long period of time? Also, how about a grade? XF?
IDK either, but "steel blue" is an old time color reference in US collecting, so it has been around a while. Yes, I believe there was a product sold in the past that would turn silver blue, but my belief is most of these are natural. I view most of them as old, light toning since blue is one of the last shades in the toning cycle.
I am not screaming it, but you should ask others about it. The main danger I think of is since it is not BU or AU, those surfaces really shouldn't have been clean naturally for this tone to take hold. Put a gun to my head, and I would guess old cleaning with retoning. Someone with more experience with the old cleaning chemicals would have to answer whether they think the blue on this one was natural. I seriously doubt someone retoned that coin blue to try to pass off a high value toning. I have seen these coins just like this for over 30 years, back when that toning was a deduction from price versus white. Maybe Doug or someone here has more experience with these. Btw none of this lowers my appreciation of your coin man, really cool coin. Even if it is an old cleaning, this is very common on these coins.
I agree that an old cleaning probably occured. It is a little "shiny" in some spots for sure, where it shouldn't be.
It appears to have been cleaned before. No shame there...probably 90% of these old coins were cleaned. It's what collectors did for many decades. Do you have the coin in hand or are these someone's pix? I am wondering if the color is correct. Lance.
Didn't see you asked this question, sorry. The colors in the pic are nearly exactly what it looks like in hand. The more I see it, the more I dislike it for some reason.
Lol, that was a throwback for sure. At least he perfected "the look" and hope he isn't getting into any more friendly gas fights!
