Does this type of deep toning add any value to a coin?

This Franklin Half has been sitting on a shelf in my office for many years. I looked at it today and the toning is so deep that it's hard to see the surfaces of the coin. It has no real eye appeal to me but I know other collectors like this type of toning.

 

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Some people like it some people do not. It all depends on your preference and the type of toning someone likes. I personally don't like it and probably would not pay much if any over melt for a coin like that.

 

Personally for that type of toning I would not pay a premium for it. Results may vary

 

There's toning and then there's rust, that one looks rusted. In the coin's defense, a majority of the early year Franklins end up looking like that if not taken very good care of to ward off the effects. I have some that look like that or even worse.

 

I am a Franklin lover and would absolutely bypass this one. It is incredible to me how some pieces will tone beautifully and others will tone like this. I have an MS65 Type 1 Quarter that has toned just absolutely horridly ugly in the NGC plastic. And another MS62 in a PCGS holder that is beautiful. Both stored the same. One is just fugly and another beautiful. Makes no sense to me.

 

Not an attractive look, especially for a 20th century common coin - when I get one like this in a bag of circulated 90% silver, I wash it in hot, soapy water & later dunk it in a jar of acetone for a day or two - if it still looks like the one above, I toss it in with my 'ugly coins', which I swap for ASEs at my local coin dealer.

 

I don't thing anyone could possibly like this coin as it has absolutely no eye appeal. The ANA grading guide would describe this as poor or unattractive.

 

not appealing to me. no. does not mean it would not be nice for someone else.

 

Some of the toning has definitely entered the terminal state and is completely unrecoverable- especially the reverse around "MERICA".

 

MAJOR negative eye appeal. I can’t imagine there’s anyone out there that finds that coin attractive, though, there probably is.

 

I'll give it an acetone bath and see how it turns out.

 

I for one would sure love to see you post an "after" picture. All my years I have never done that to a coin. I have a few I would like to get some grunge off of though.

 

Acetone will not change this much if at all.

 

So far you are correct. An initial dip in acetone had zero effect. A much longer dip and a Q-tip rub did remove some of the toning. However, looking at the coin head on is pretty bad. Looking at it at a slight angle produces a better result. You can see the silver that's being trapped under tarnish but can't be released.

 

If you are removing toning with acetone and a q-tip, the acetone is probably doing nothing besides acting as a lubricant. You are merely polishing the surfaces abrasively.

 

That phony rainbow toning was hot for a while and people overpaid for Morgans with it. This coin is just ugly.

 

Couldn't agree with you more Michael.

 

I don't remember what this coin looked like when I put it on the shelf many years ago but it makes me a little concerned about the air quality of my office.

 

Here are the after photos. No improvement at all. I guess I could experiment with dipping but I've never done that and would have to research the process. Keep in mind I'm just experimenting on a badly damaged coin. Any opinions?

 

I don’t really think you can hurt this half much by dipping it with EZest. I’d go for it, followed immediately by thorough flushing with water. If you do, please show us the result.

Steve