1890 Morgan Color

What causes this coloring?

 

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Looks like "Toning" but the coin looks strange . Maybe cleaned at some point ? Almost looks artificially toned , NO?

 

Welcome to CT, Wade Eliott! I am certain you'll get quite a few responses to your query. I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate the excellent photos; if you can get rid of that dead space at the top and bottom or the coin, one would think you've been here for a long time.

My simple answer to your question: The silver on your coin has been toned. One could correlate toning with rust found on iron, but I don't think toning on silver actually changes silver's chemical make up; at least not to the degree that rust is a different thing than iron. Toning is a term that describes the discoloration or light patina that forms on the surface of coins due to oxygen and chemicals in the air acting on the metal; it is the effect of oxygen and other chemicals interacting with the silver and copper content of your coin.

I'm certain others more precise and accurate than I will reply - and we'll both learn something.

David

 

Looks dipped/cleaned and retoned.

 

Looks like someone cleaned her up real good than started the toning process.

Artificial toning.

 

Lack of lustre indicates a previous cleaning and then either stored to cause it to tone or artificially toned using chemicals to 'hide' the cleaning. Common practice

 

I think toners use some sort of sulfer compound?

 

Exposure to chemicals and/or heat cause metals to colorize. Its called tarnish if its on your silverware or jewelry. Called toning when on a coin.
I think your coin was cleaned along time ago (50-80 yrs.) and has toned due to the chemicals used at that time. Sulfur will make copper and silver turn black, ammonia likes to make copper and silver turn blue and purple.
Folks have different opinions/definitions of artificial toning. I don't think your coin was purposely AT'd due to most of it being on the reverse. Which I think was probably caused from being in a book/album with a closed backing that trapped the residual chemicals from the cleaning that made the metal tone.. Your coin has most likely been it storage for more than 120+ years of its 130 year life.
Just thoughts from my limited knowledge.

 

Looking at the reverse, it appears to me that someone dipped the coin in a silver cleaner, then went after the more darkly tarnished areas with an abrasive or chemical on a swab ( look at the sharply demarcated light areas near the eagle).
Then the coin was put in an old style high sulfur coin folder or album where the reverse toned more rapidly as noted by alurid above. Usually this kind of toning starts with a pink-rose or beige color then progresses through the blue that you see here on to darker hues.

 

It has been in a silver eagle case closed case for over a100 years in a safe deposit box. Makes complete sense now, thank you.

 

By the way, your avatar coin looks very fascinating.

 

I can edit these better from here on. Thanks for the warm welcome.

 

It was dipped, and then retoned, because it has album on the reverse.

 

Cool coin

 

Exposed to the elements, cleaned, and/or artificially toned. Even so, all Morgan's are keepers. Seal it, put it in a album, and show it off. Thanks for sharing it.

 

Your original question has been well answered above, so I can't add much to it. The fact that your coin has been in storage for a long time doesn't exclude it from having been "cleaned" (dipped) a long time ago. It used to be an accepted practice to clean coins to a blast white appearance, so I'd venture to guess that's what happened to your coin.

 

Natural toning... Below are toned, admitted by seller, when I asked him.. [gold-coins] .. Last one is natural tone

 

The NT 2008 ASE has a gorgeous sepia tone…I like natural toning, even rainbow colored, but it has to be delicate, not shocking…imo…Spark

 

Wow! Great pic's!