It is interesting to me when I run across coins that I have previously owned. Recently two such examples showed up at GC auctions. Both were toned Morgans. First up is this obverse toned rattler. Here is what I said when I had it in my duds of 2024 thread: "It came from Legend Auctions and I certainly had to pay up. I bought into the rattler hype and the photo. In hand, this was a solid coin but with the price I had paid, it was a bit of a let down. It took a while to sell but I was able to get out of it with about an $80 loss. " The final result was $675-which I think is in the right range. This was lower than I paid originally and lower than what I got when selling it for a loss. https://www.greatcollections.com/Coin/1779102/1881-S-Morgan-Silver-Dollar-PCGS-MS-63-CAC-Green-OGH-1st-Gen-Toned The other coin is a reverse toner with some solid rainbow colors. I reluctantly let this go in 2019 (not sure what I was thinking besides some notion that prices would be going down). It sold for about twice my price (from 2019), bringing an impressive $826.88 at GC. https://www.greatcollections.com/Coin/1779655/1881-S-Morgan-Silver-Dollar-PCGS-MS-64-Toned
The second seems to have incredible luster for the grade. I would have kept that one. Well wish I would have. I have a few of those.
Yes it had the typically strong early S mint luster. I should have kept it but my thinking at the time was different and I figured I would find something better later for the money (I did find a few coins in the years since that I have liked more but I still wouldn't mind had I kept that coin too).
The first one, in the rattler, is too mottled in appearance to me. Also, that blob above the eagles head is a big distraction. The second coin, wow, that is a dandy! I wouldn't have let that one leave my coin cabinet!
It's amazing how much more over coin guide list pricing for year, mint, and grade that toned Morgans go for. Those are beautiful, but difficult to value whether buying or selling.
The first one has beautiful obv colors, except it looks like someone took an eraser and tried to get rid of the toning. What would be the real cause of that? And, I agree with @BuffaloHunter that the blob above the eagle's head is too distracting for me. The second one, if that coloring would be on the obverse, would be much more of a winner! As it is, it's still a beauty, for sure! I need more Morgans with coloring like these! Prolly can't afford them, tho.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the white spots on the top one left obverse field. That would have killed my interest in it - even though without that, it would be a really nice piece. The second one, however.... that is one of the best examples of elevation chromatics I've seen in a while. You could use that as a great example of what to look for in genuine color, complete with pull-away toning.
I would have preferred it if I had kept it but I didn't know then what I know now. And yes the reverse spot on the rattler was distracting.
The toner premium can indeed be all over the place. Certain colors (greens, rainbows), patterns (textile), and brightness/vividness of the color all impact the price as well. Then you can have an auction where two bidders must have a certain toned coin and anything is possible (of course this happens with non toned coins too).
The parts that look like someone "erased" the toning are breaks in the toning. This can happen when something was covering those areas as the rest of the coin toned or just the how the environment reacted with the coin. For the reverse toner, it would indeed be much more expensive with that color on the obverse. Still, it did quite well at 5.5x of the PCGS guide (which at $150 is on the high side for a generic MS 64+....around $100 is closer and that would make the premium on the toner 8x the market rate on an untoned example).
