For the past 2-3 years, I have been collecting Jefferson Nickel toned proofs. I realize that they are an acquired taste. Some folks love them, and others think they are artificial looking. That is fine, as tastes diverge wildly when it comes to toned coins. Jefferson Nickels, in general, are not every collector’s cup of tea, as they often do not tone with intense colors, like Morgan dollars. Then again, Jefferson’s were not stored in damp and humid locations, in wet mint bags for years. There is a good reason that S mint Morgans, and O mint Morgans produce vivid colors. The “Cellophane” Jeffersons occurred primarily in the 1960s, and into the early 70s. The reason there are so many intense coloration in many of those has to do with storage—they were heat sealed into Cellophane mint packaging. The process yielded intense Blue, Yellow, Gold, Purple, and multicolored specimens. Some are so intense, they almost look like AT, but are commonly certified by TPGs, as they know the cause and effect of the packaging. At any rate, I have collected the market acceptable proofs, and love them. If others don’t find them their cup of tea—great. That is the Ford-Chevy debate, as I posted on another thread. For a long time, I have looked for rainbow intense Cellophane proofs. They are less common, as the chemical reactions connected with these particular coins tend to be more monochromatic, as opposed to rainbow. Finally, I found a really nice rainbow one—a 1964 PCGS Jefferson PR 66, with pretty intense rainbows. One nice aspect of collecting Jeff Proofs is that they are common, once one gets past the early 1940s-1950s dates in gem grades. Well, this one begged for me to buy it, so I did. By the way, the coin looks exactly like this in hand—it is not juiced, or lit to produce specific effects. At any rate, love it or hate it—this is one of my favorites. It is nice that it was extremely affordable, and not like a $2000 rainbow toned Morgan, which used to make me frustrated, and devoid of money.
That is a pretty coin, but I have a question that might be a little off-topic. Suppose that you found a really nice rainbow toner in the OGP. Knowing that some graders might be skeptical about the originality, would you be inclined to submit the entire proof set instead of cracking it out before submission?
Yes, I think that is exactly what I would do. It hasn’t happened yet, but if I find a nice proof set with toning, I would send in the set.
Waste of money . All mine are raw. Who's gonna pay that for a non error coin, I don't know . What's your thoughts
That's really pretty. I need to look through my older proof sets to see if I have any that are that nice! Of course I'm not taking mine out of the original packing, or selling them, but if I do have any, I'll see if I can't get a decent picture and share it.