For those of you that collect or are interested in learning more about toned coins, and how to detect artificially toned coins, there is a new website dedicated to educating the public about artificially toned coins. The address is atcoins.com, or you can click here : http://atcoins.com/ The site is maintained by a California attorney who collects toned coins. It is purely educational. Check it out!!
Great site, but I must be honest:. I could see it causing some problems among collectors. It is a classic case of a “little knowledge is a dangerous thing”. For example, I have a SE that has an honest, unintentional spot of bright purple near the rim in one place only. This was the result of a Littleton Coin Company foam case. The rest of the coin is clean, except for that spot. It is an natural as anything, but this site might lead someone to believe I messed with it artificially. I also wonder where we should draw the line when it comes to defining AT. For example, if you intentionally expose a coin to certain things, it is AT, right? What if a coin is unintentionally exposed to these things? The boundaries are not so clear. I can see why this is such a difficult issue sometimes.
I would guess that its the blurring boundries that put some collectors teeth on edge when you even mention toned coins. Toning after all, at its base, is post mint alteration (purposely avoiding the word "damage").
Toning is also the natural progression for coins. Any coin, regardless of metal content begins to tone the very second it is struck. That's what happens to metal when it is exposed to air. It doesn't have to be exposed to anything else - just air - and it WILL tone. As collectors we quite often interupt the natural progression because many of us do not like toned coins. We strive to keep them pristine and blast white, copper red and yellow gold. And that is far more unnatural than letting a coin tone. Just a different, but accurate, perspective
Toning is toning is toning...... IMO, all toning is natual. As GD stated above, it is the metals nature to tone, oxidize, tarnish, whatever you want to call it. Whether it takes 10 years or 10 hours, who cares? Do you appreciate the toning? GREAT!!!! Do you not? GREAT!!!!! The thing is, is to collect what YOU enjoy, just use you head when making purchases. I believe that attractive (again, in the eye of the beholder) toning is worth a premium, but not many, many multiples.
JBK and ngolflo, you make good points about the challenge of where to "draw the line" between NT and AT. Because of that difficulty, many characterize toning as "market acceptable" or "not market acceptable". That being said, I think, in general, toning that takes place gradually over a number of years is usually considered "NT", whether that takes place in a mint bag, a Whitman Album, or an antique coin cabinet. Any process that tones a coins quickly via heat or chemicals is generally considered "AT", and would include stuff like baking a coin in a potato, torching a coin with heat, or "toning" a coin with cigar smoke (yuck!). However, there are exceptions -- NT coins being "bodybagged" for "questionable color" and AT coins from skilled coin doctors finding thier way into PCGS, NGC, and ANACS holders. All things considered, there are "AT" or "non-market acceptable" toned coins which are obvious, and the website helps those in detecting such obviously AT coins. Even if you like certain AT coins (really nothing wrong with that) you should not pay an "NT price" for such coins.
Well, I'm not so sure that is accurate about high purity gold, which is non-reactive to oxygen, alkali, and most acids. Gold can get dirty, but barring a partial failure of mixing in the alloy, most gold coins shouldn't get tarnished (or toned if you prefer the Madison Avenue term ).
Yup - I know that's what folks say. But I can show ya quite a few coins that are .986 gold and they toned. I have lots of them that are .910 or .900 gold and they toned. And even a couple of pure gold - and they toned. So when it comes to things like this - I tend to believe what my eyes see instead of what is written
