Hi All Another grading question. Picked up this 1932 P Quarter raw on ebay! On the plus side, what I thought was dirt is actually nice gold and blue toned toning (yay!) but I didnt see the little tick on the back at 3 o'clock. Otherwise, I think this is MS -The details in the hair are stunning! - But what does that tick do?
I purchased some sets still in the cello , and they had that blue color and looked similar to the quarter you purchased. the sets however looked like they may have been exposed to a high heat , or were in a building that burnt. The packages were a little wrinkled , and the coins had that blue /yellow gold color to them . These were not as old as your coin, and were from 1961, 62 , and 63 . So I think there is a possibility that your coin was subjected to some heat from some source at one time or another. I may be wrong , but just telling you what the coins I purchased were like. Dillan
Interesting. The coin isn’t as yellow as the pictures look. Maybe some better color corrected images would help? Here is a pic of the back I snapped under better light.
Exposed to heat. Someone may have been trying to "Tone" the quarter for a higher resale value or as stated above, in a fire or something.
It may have been a very dirty coin, that was soaked in an acidic solution to free the debris and corrosion.
Physics-fan is a respected expert on this topic (has been for years) and could answer this far better than me. However, in my limited experience with toning, it’s all about the “look” much the same as determining a cleaned coin. Artificial toning tends to “float” on a coins devices and doesn’t look naturally part of the coin, and certain colors and patterns can indicate whether it’s artificial or natural. OP- I’m with Idhair here, I also feel it has been messed with. I really didn’t even notice the rim nick on first glance. It’s not going to affect grade all that much. If it were tending towards a high MS, it would most certainly prevent a 65 grade, but it’s not in that territory. That color is really bugging me though.
I'm not ready to rule this one Artificial toning just yet. The colors are the right shades, and they appear in a pattern similar to ones I've seen before. This looks like a coin that someone saved in 1932 when it came out, because these were very popular remembrances of a very popular president. This coin looks like it was wrapped in tissue paper and placed in a jewelry box for many decades. Because of its close contact with the coin, the tissue paper has toned the coin quite thoroughly. The thick toning is impeding the luster somewhat. The look is not the most attractive, and it is less common to see this look - but I'm not convinced its artificial. Heat would not have produced the convincing elevation chromatics seen in his ponytail and ribbon. Notice how the color in the lower spots of his hair is deeper than on the high spots? That is often a sign of natural toning, although it isn't foolproof. I also like the look of the luster interplaying with the toning in between the devices on the reverse. While artificial toning will look to "float" on the surfaces, as a couple of people have mentioned, it does not appear to be doing that here on this coin. @TylerH , to help us out, please take at least two more obverse and reverse shots in different lighting conditions. Try to take them head on, and try to get them as well in focus as you can. I'm not 100% convinced it's natural yet, because there are some very knowledgeable people here saying its artificial - but I'm not convinced its artificial yet either. I am also going to summon @Lehigh96 , because I highly respect his opinion on toned coins.
@physics-fan3.14 thank you! I will take more pics today. I was using a different monitor when I edited the photos and didn’t notice how extremely yellow they were. My monitor at home is color corrected so hopefully will get a better feel this afternoon!
I like the look of your coin. And was glad to see @physics-fan3.14 chime in the way he did. What I see in the photos is a coin that is quite dark. And the luster makes it glow. This would be hard to emulate if it was altered. I see an original looking coin. The surfaces do not look altered like most AT coins out there.
Thank you so much! I dont know enough about coins yet to know either way so Im glad that it could be legit - I was hoping so, and the condition is beautiful - I have never seen so much detail in Washington's hair before!
The most difficult thing to distinguish is surfaces when looking at Photos, One has to either trust the photos or know better, usually because they have done it before. I have no where near the expertise of some of the poster before me. I would like to know what @Lehigh96 has to say
