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Message:: [QUOTE="Vess1, post: 759350, member: 13650"]Basically, that is it.   In general, most people want a coin that toned by a natural process, whether it was sitting in a mint set, toned in a bag at the mint,  or toned in someone's album.   All usually over a long period of time.  Sometimes decades.   That's usually what's considered NT but many times it's impossible to verify unless you owned the coin and watched it tone over 20 years.   The main thing is, people usually wish to avoid anything that has been sped up or messed with by a coin doctor.   People will bake coins in an oven, physically apply wild colors by various means or use some other method to speed up the process.    Most do not wish to reward these people for their actions with a large premium for their coins that otherwise would have never toned.    This is classified as AT.    Some are obvious, others not so obvious.   There are natural color progressions to look for.   Also, some coins are commonly toned while others are rarely ever found in a toned state but when they are, will command a very steep price.    Some sellers on ebay sell every U.S. silver coin with the exact same toning pattern and colors.  That's usually a dead giveaway.  But takes some investigating beyond looking at an individual auction.[/QUOTE]