Gosh those are pretty. I'm going to say, condition-wise, they're both high-AU. Don't clean them, and always handle them by the edge.
You think? I think they're cleaned or dipped. That orangey toning is not original. I think they are actually quite unattractive. I'd call them low AU, or maybe EF. If you recently purchased them, I would return them.
AU details. They look like they've either been around a lot of smoke or grease. I found a coin once in my kitchen and it had the same look.
I was told the brownish toning is original and that they'd never been cleaned. I person I received them from said they'd always been kept in protective cases since he'd owned them (I do not know how long that was however, I'm assuming many years based off his age and how highly he spoke of them). I have kept them in the cases every since (other than to take these photos, in which I handled them like an explosive device). I am no expert though. Thanks for the feedback. All comments appreciated.
Thanks for the info. If it is in fact smoke or grease then should I have them cleaned? Will they be damaged over time if left as is?
Some in this asylum like to imagine things. They've been roughed-up a little, there are some nicks, and they may even have been rubbed somewhat, at some point. They still have some decent surface left. The toning is toning, who cares how it got there? What are we, detectives? And I like them, so that makes at least two of us.
Thank you very much I appreciate the positivity. I've only started collecting for the past 6 months so it's still exciting for me. I live in a fairly small town in Oklahoma and have spread the word to nearly everyone so a few times a week I'll get a message or phone call about a new coin. All very exciting
That's a nice start. Put those Morgans in the 2X2 cardboard/mylar flips, you know the routine. Tell your bank tellers to call you if anything unusual surfaces. You probably didn't know this, but some banks, when they get foreign coin, they just toss it. I used to have them bag it for me. You won't believe what they throw out sometimes as they try to keep their books balanced in US currency. To many banks, everything else is a toss. Needless to say, I like that a lot.
Oh wow I never even thought about asking them to hold coins for me! I've went through a few times and bought rolls of pennies, quarters, etc. And even went to the car wash once and got $20 in quarters so I'd have something to do (I have a Nikon 28D lens which is a blessing and a curse sometimes lol). But thank you for the advice! I will definitely let them know tomorrow!
We have a saying in this hobby: buy the coin, not the story. Somebody sold you a story. That is absolutely not original toning, and they have definitely been cleaned. The person you bought them from may not have done it himself, but it has been done.
