So I just acquired these recent Shield Cents today. Would you think these are Naturally Toned or Artificially Toned? I figured these would be a good debate for the NT/AT folks. What say you? Both came from the same source and they were not from the internet.
Corroded under duress, and unnatural by definition even if it was accidental. I couldn't bring myself to call that "toning."
Paddy54, posted: "Laying on the dash board of a hot car yes, by natural means I think not." So, they are naturally toned or discolored because of the environment they were put into intentionally. Yet, you believe the cent cannot be considered to have toned or discolored "naturally." Right? Which is it, I'm . Another member seems to agree and posted this: Corroded under duress, and unnatural by definition even if it was accidental. I couldn't bring myself to call that "toning." I wish he would have told us his definition of corrosion and toning. It would have possibly opened a very educational discussion.
I knew this was a loaded question going in. These almost have the edynamicmarketing look to them. Although theirs tend to be a single color with the splotchiness going on. These Lincoln's were recovered from a lake yesterday while I was metal detecting. I'm guessing that they spent no more than a couple of months in the water. So depending on how you define NT or AT these could met both definitions. I just thought that a few of these actually looked kinda nice in hand, but the sandy bottom has certainly taken it's toll on the surface condition. A lot of the coins that have been recently dropped have this look and most of the other places I go around where I live don't produce this look. I thought it was odd and wanted to share.
Something in the water of that lake is reacting with the copper. Could just be different minerals in the feed, could be polution. It's probably benign to humans... or else parts start to fall off after swiming there.
It's actually one of the cleanest lakes around here. It's my favorite one to take my kids to go swimming and beat the heat. It's been unusually hot here this summer. I'm thinking it's the minerals in the sand that they put into the swimming area.
There's been plenty of time for that. Natural toning doesn't have to take years or decades, some coins will tone naturally rather quickly and others never really will