Well not exactly rodeo. It's too dang easy to dip any coin and make it blast white. That's why there are so many untoned coins to begin with.
Wow, the internet and digital photography caused both of those bubbles huh? If you typed that drivel anywhere outside of this little pond, you would get laughed off the forum you typed it on. You really are a legend in your own mind! Obviously, the dot-com bubble needed the internet but that wasn't the root cause of the bubble and you know it. Deregulation, interest rates, subprime mortgages? Nope, it was digital photography that caused the housing bubble. Furthermore, if you know how to tone a coin that can pass the test of the TPG's and drive a premium of multiples of bid, then prove it. Buy a blast white MS64 common date Morgan Dollar. Take a photo. That should be easy for you since you have so much experience with multi million dollar houses and such. Post the before photo in a thread on this forum. Then use your easy AT method, take a photo and post that in the thread. Then send the coin to the TPG of your choice. Once graded, post the photo of the coin in the slab. Then stick the sucker up on an E-Bay in a no reserve auction and get at least 3X wholesale. You are the one who said it is easy! PROVE IT! Nobody will get hurt, nobody will lose a fortune, and once the process is over, you can dip the sucker and return things to the way they were. Btw, you were the guy who adamantly claimed that the rainbow toned coin market didn't exist until 2002 but now you are telling us that people have been AT'ing coin for at least 30 years. Don't worry, I know what you are going to say. Prior to the rise of rainbow toned coins and the associated premiums they drive, people AT'ed coins to hide defects. And I agree, they did, but they certainly didn't create wild rainbow patterns during that process. Most were evenly toned in a monochromatic shade. Go ahead, dispute that!
IDK about the housing bubble, but to say the internet had nothing to do with the dot com bubble is kinda....well, its like saying housing had nothing to do with the housing bubble. I never said toned coins weren't sold for years. SOme even had premiums because of their surfaces. However, toning also used to be used to retone problem coins. This is why retoning was learned, to retone a coin after you had doctored it. It is also why lots of collectors refused to buy toned coins. Even today, there is no way of knowing what is underneath the toning on the surfaces. Very many times toning is hiding surface damage.
Paul I have never said any such thing. What I have said is that 2002 was about the time that prices started going upward for toned coins and that the popularity of toned coins started increasing then. And I have said that prior to 2002 blast white was all the rage and that there were far more people who paid premiums for blast white coins than there were who paid premiums for toned coins. That's a far cry from what you are claiming I said. Now you wanna prove that for yourself ? Go back and search the NGC and PCGS forums for posts made prior to 2002. You'll see it for yourself. It's right there in black and white. You will find post after post of people going oooooh and ahhhhhh over blast white coins. But only a few posts about colorfully toned coins. Well no that is not what I would have said actually. What you're saying is true, no doubt about that. But what I would say is that yes, they did AT coins to have rainbow colors for the collectors who liked rainbow toned coins and were willing to pay a small premium for them. Paul you can go back as far as you want, on any forum you want, and search out my posts for the past 10 years, which was long before you ever showed up. And what you will find is that I have always said the same exact thing - there has always been a segment of the market that liked colorfully and attractively toned coins. But the size of that segment used to be quite small as compared to the size of it today. And you will also find that I have always said that yes, collectors in that segment have always been willing to pay a premium for the the toned coins. But the size of that premium was quite small compared to the size of the premiums paid in recent years. Those comments are made in general terms. Yeah there were probably some isolated incidents of collectors paying sizable premiums for a toned coin. But there are isolated incidents of collectors paying sizable premiums for any given coin, in any given time frame. But isolated incidents do not indicate a trend or typical occurrences. And Paul, as usual, you are twisting my words, a favorite habit of yours, to make it seem as if I said something that I did not say. I never said the internet and digital photography caused those bubbles. What I said was that I doubt that the bubbles would have happened had it not been for the internet and digital photography. Two very different things Paul. edit - and before it goes any further. I'm done. I'm not going to get into yet another endless argument with you. It aint worth the effort.
I don't dispute that other than the year. Prices started going up in the late 90's evidenced by the Appalachian Jefferson Nickels which were slabbed in September 2000. When I speak of the rainbow toned coin market, I am speaking of the market that drives strong premiums to their untoned counterparts. And no matter whether it is 2002 or the late 90's the premiums for toned coins prior to that were very small and almost never multiples of bid. Yes there were toned coin collectors, but they were able to obtain the toned coins cheaply because the demand had not yet exploded. The explosion in demand was caused by the advancement of the internet and digital photography. What you are saying here makes no sense. If there was very little premium being paid for rainbow toned coins, there would be no market for the coin doctors to create rainbow toned coins. Prior to the explosion of the rainbow toned coin market, AT was used almost exclusively to hide defects and rainbow toning was not used. It was only after the explosion of the rainbow toned coin market that coin doctors started creating AT coins with the intent of reproducing eye appealing rainbow toning that would drive many multiples of bid. So to say that doctors have had expertise in doing something for 30 years about something that has only existed for 10-15 years is ludicrous. Well I am glad we are done talking about bubbles that had nothing to do with coins and are apples to oranges when compared to what happened with the rainbow toned coin market. Mostly because what happened to the rainbow toned coin market is not a bubble. The increase in demand was not temporary and what caused the increase in demand can't be taken away. The technological advancements that caused the explosion of the rainbow toned coin market created a permanent change in the supply-demand for the market and the market has been stable since those changes occurred. Doug, you might not like arguing with me but quite honestly, you exacerbate most of the dispute by constantly making sweeping statements without ever providing any proof. You simply want the readers of this forum to believe you based on your age and experience. That just isn't good enough for me. If you are going to challenge my claim that creating rainbow AT coins that can fool the TPG's is extremely difficult, then you need to back up that claim. If you claim that you are capable of doing it yourself, then prove it! I am currently a professional poker player. I think you are bluffing! The ball is in your court. Either show the winning hand and prove your claim that you can AT coins and get them slabbed or muck your hand and admit that you can't.
PAULLLLL Get a grip. This is coin talk! Nobody is tarred and feathered here, especially over rusty old coins.
The name should be changed to Coin Argument. Tar & Feathers carry a small fee! Gotta go play poker now.
I think I read that type of toning is really relative to current trends. Today, white or rainbow coins are prefered. I have coins that have gold, tan, or black toning and I like them just fine. I like when coins have black toning around the features that make them stick out more.
Toning and other fads Over the years I have seen fads for toned, bright, whizzed, acid treated, and other forms of coin treatment. My first experience with toned coins was when the Redfield hoard of silver dollars was released. They sold at a nice premium over non-toned dollars. It seemed like collectors were into the nice rainbow toning on the coins more than the grades. Many of the ones I saw had lots of bag marks and by today's standard were way over graded. Anyone remember when some people were whizzing Morgan dollars and putting acid on the raised parts of the coins. They looked like fully frosted proof dollars. I was in a coin shop when an older gentleman brought in a set of these treated dollars that were in a capital plastic holder. It was a set of all the Carson City Morgans and the holder was the shape of Nevada. The dealer explained what the gentleman had but the man did not want to believe him. From the man's reaction I figured the man had lost a lot of money. That was an eye opener for me. Read the books and buy what you like. My rule of thumb is "If you are not satisfied with the coin (item) when you buy it you will never be satisfied with the coin (item)."
Probably have to pay the city dump extra just to haul them away since they are all corroded and stuff.