AU Tooled Coin - Diminished Value?

Hello Everyone - I was going to bid on a coin in an auction. It was rated as follows:

PCGS Genuine AU Details:Tooled

I looked up what TOOLED meant and as a beginner coin collector, I didn't know whether to bid so I didn't. The images looked nice but I didn't see it in person so I skipped it.

Does anyone have an opinion as to whether a TOOLED coin is a decent coin to purchase? I realize that there are any number of things that could be done to it to be considered tooled. But in general, is it something to shy away from if it's been enhanced, smoothed, etc?

Thanks!

 

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This would depending largely on what it is, price, and how much you want it, but as a general rule you’d be wise to stay far away from such coins.

At this point being new, one of if not the best move you could make is to learn as much as possible before making purchases, or better yet find a genuinely knowledgeable and trustworthy dealer to work with you, at least initially.

 

It's a problem child (and a significant one at that).
I rate it right up there with being holed.

This is a question only you can answer for yourself; will you be happy owning a coin with a significant market defect? If so, then right on! If not, you'll regret your purchase.

 

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Thank you for the input. I've been trying to read as much as possible since I took about a 50 year break from collecting and have just re-started.

 

A details graded coin will almost always trade at a discount from its straight graded equivalent. As for the amount of that discount, it depends on the problem(s) that the coin has, and every case is unique. Generally I would say that cleaning, artificial toning or questionable color would have the least effect on the price, perhaps 20 percent give or take. Environmental damage would fall somewhere in the middle, and holed would be the opposite extreme, perhaps a discount of 80 percent or more. I'm not sure tooled is as bad as holed but it's at least a very close second. Definitely something to stay away from.

 

Glad you passed.

 

What is a "tooled coin"

 

The surface was mechanically reworked by a metals craftsman in some way to enhance appearance/aesthetics.

 

Or mechanically reworked by a knucklehead with a screwdriver.

 

Just my opinion - unless I thought the label was wrong (which will probably never happen from just pictures), I wouldn't purchase a "detail" coin. If I am going to buy something in a slab, I expect a grade and can then determine what I think it is worth to me. A cleaned or tooled coin is just not worth it for me. Especially when I can take the same money and probably even less and try to gamble it on an unslabbed version instead.

EDIT: Thanks to Kentucky for his post right below. I should clarify that I am referring to US coinage.

 

From the world of Ancient Coins...a smoothed coin has had the background worked with some sort of tool to make the surface...smooth. A tooled coin has had details of the coin that have worn away resurrected through cutting the metal. I actually bought a smoothed indian head cent that was smoothed, because it was beautiful and it was not expensive.

 

I'm not sure what all tooled can mean, but sometimes you see Liberty's hair enhanced, or a full horn on a worn buffalo nickel. If it is well done it can be deceptive.

 

As a general rule, I think this is a great way to go. It's the same thing I do. That being said, there are exceptions for rarity. There are some coins out there that are so rare there simply might not be another option. I'm not just talking about crazy high dollar coins either...take for example early copper varieties. Some people really love those and sometimes a problem example is all that can be found.

 

Ancients are like that, too.
In modern coinage, though, 'problem coins' are usually just busted dreams; a compromise that people make, only to eventually regret.

 

Great answers above.
I'll add this. A tooled coin is a problem coin. You will also see the term tooling marks used when folks are talking about the die used to strike the coin. Dies were sometimes worked on to improve the looks of the coins that were struck.
Fake dies were sometimes tooled as well.

 

I wonder if there are any before and after photos of coins that have been tooled

 

That is hard to get because quite often coin doctors don't like to leave evidence of their trade. Here is an example if you can use your imagination.



This is a California territorial $50 gold piece or "slug." This piece has been extensively cleaned with an abrasive to make it bright. If you look inside the letters, you will see how it looked before someone scraped the surfaces to remove a layer of tarish, which included the metal. The darker areas around the letters are the natural look of a 150+ year old piece. The lighter areas are indications of some cleaning and maybe some cleaning.

This is a little more subtle. If you look above the eagle's head and to it's left, you will see an area that looks a bit more grey than the rest of the coin. That area has probably been smoothed.



Some of the same sort of work has probably been done to the obverse. The "grey" areas are smooth, but there is no luster.

 

Those examples are more towards the side of improper cleaning. Wouldn’t tooling be when someone enhances or reengraves design features that are otherwise weakly struck or worn? That would bother me a lot more.

 

Tooling can also be used to remove scratches and smooth copper coins that are porous from corrosion. Some of those operations were done in the 19th century and were acceptable back then.

Tooling can also be used to remove raised spots on counterfeits. Some of the counterfeit coins that have made it into certification slabs were done that way. The coins got in “details” holders, but since they were counterfeits, the crooks still won because they got a bad coin in a genuine holder.

Yes, restoring worn or poorly struck details is part of it, but more often it involves fixing surface defects. Re-engraving missing details is often too easily detected these days.

 

Here is a very badly tooled coin from Google...


Here's a before and after