WOW, look thru these listings, some amazing toning huh? I am never suprised at what beauty this guy pulls out of his hat on occasion. http://cgi.ebay.com/1885-1c-NGC-PF6...ryZ41086QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Fresh NGC slabbers, AT / NT debate will happen Im sure, irregardless
That word is one of my pet peeves. I couldn't help myself. I try not to be the Spelling Nazi but that one gets me every time. Still, the way that toning lays on the coin looks an awful lot like AT to me. That's just my opinion.
I am the worst speller here Anaconda has a reputation of selling the highest, sweetest toned coins on the net, I enjoy looking at their stuff, I just wish it were in my budget. He has an entire run of Proof Indians up this week that would make a copper lover drool
Anaconda has some beautifully toned coins, but I would be very careful as many toned IHCs are not natural, IMO, and this is not a series for the inexperienced toner collector. That said, the Anaconda guys are good guys to deal with and if you like the coin and like the price, you can buy from them without worry. Respectfully submitted...Mike
Somewhere I have a DVD or a VHS tape Bob Campbell put out about Artificial Toning. I'll see if I can dig it out. He goes through the natural toning process and gives you pointers on how to spot AT coins.
I will admit some of them look nice, I just do not like the premium that comes with that toning, regardless of the eye appeal. I think I will leave these to the pro's.
Here is Bob Campbell's DVD. At about $20 it is well worth the money. You have to wonder why coins are artificially toned. Some are toned for the "WOW" factor - to get people to pay huge amounts of money for a wildly toned coin. Others are toned to hide something - scratches, alterations, defects. By hiding defects with AT a coin may be bumped several points in grade (if the AT gets past the graders). Coin doctors make a very good living splitting the price increase of coins they doctor. How would you like to be the buyer of a nicely-toned MS-66 Lafayette Dollar ($14,250) only to find out later that it had graded MS-64 ($3,100) before it was artificially toned to hide hairline scratches? Meanwhile the seller and the coin doctor have split the $11,150 bump in price of the coin and laughed all the way to the bank. Knowledge is power. The more you know about AT the less likely you are to be the victim of a coin doctor. Learn the sequence of toning colors; coins with colors in the wrong order or wrong direction are probably artificially toned. Learn how toning lays on a coin. All this is explained in Bob Campbell's DVD.
