I have a framed US coins 20th Century Coins display that is framed with glass covering and a cardboard backing. About half the coins are proofs and most of the others are in decent shape. This was my dads and over the years the backs of the coins have acquired some toning. Its hard to tell from the photo, but most of the backs have some toning varying from blue reddish to brown. To see it in detail, i would have to take a picture of every coin, which would take too much time. I dont think there are any key dates here. It does look odd when the obverse has little toning and the reverse has toning. Will this detract from the value of the coins?
Depends on the potential buyer I suppose. Some people will dip the silver coins in a hearbeat. Others take it as it is. Personally, I like toning even if it's "artificial" and only on one side. clembo
Clembo, would you consider the way these coins were stored and thus the toning that developed as artificial? Don't want to start a toning wars....Just curious.
I'm not Clembo but I'll attempt an answer to your question. Artificial toning of a coin is described as "adding colors to a coin by various treatments with chemicals, heat and other methods in an attempt to increase its value" thus the choice in which environment the collector chooses to display his or her coins would naturally create its own toning. Therefore, the toning created in this framed display would be natural. Artificial toning can be created by placing your coins in an oven or by other sources of heat and/or chemicals which the toning would then be man made.
Thanks for the definition, Indianhead. :thumb: Some people have VERY strict "guidelines" for what they consider natural vs artificial toning. I wasn't sure whether Clembo was referring to to the OP's display when he was talking about his love of NT and AT.
