1833 Half Cent (Artifically Toned) ... Potential Problem?

i've been looking around for a nice looking half cent and i saw this on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160436897887&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

my guess is this coin is artificially toned (right?) those colors are just too electric.

question: why would someone artifically tone a 180 year old US coin?

since this coin is not third party graded ... do you think the odds are high that this coin is either:

1. fake or
2. cleaned and ungradable and the toning was done to hide the cleaning

thanks for your opinions.

 

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IMO, not fake. Quite likely cleaned and recolored.

I will say that old copper which is proof or proof-like can exhibit amazing toning. This coin shows no cartwheel luster as one expects from a coin with little or no wear, but that might be because it's a super early due state and is proof-like. It's not impossible it's legit; can't tell from photos.

Personally, I wouldn't trust this one on eBay. I would like to see it in hand.

 

It's real, however its been harshly cleaned. You can buy a problem free ms-63 brown for around their asking price pretty easily if you keep your eyes peeled. Sometimes harshly cleaned copper takes on ugly electric colors like the one posted above. I can't say for sure that it has been artificially toned, but I can say for sure it has been cleaned pretty strongly.

 

Ouchie - harshly cleaned coin. Poor thing needs to sit for another 100 years or so to re-tone back to brown.

 

hey ... thanks for the input ... this was really helpful!