Curious as to your thoughts on these toned pennies

I had these Pennie’s posted on another site and was told the coins had been cleaned and treated with an unnatural toning agent. I tended to disagree with them because they came from my fathers collection and he was a firm believer in not cleaning coins. But I am not sure where he got them. I do know when I inherited the collection he had these kept in brown coin envelopes stored in a metal coin box. I am curious your opinion on a few I have attached. Thanks

 

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Hi,

It looks to me like they have been cleaned then left to retone unnaturally, chemical seems likely to me, especially the first two in your photos.

 

Thanks

 

Your coins appear to look very clean (very little circulation gunk) for their age and wear. I have seen copper coins develope colorful iridescent toning as the result of acetone cleaning. Brown paper coin envelopes are also known to off gas chemicals that can produce toning similar to what you are showing us. Toning agents can also produce some questionable color patterns. It is any bodies guess what actually happened to your coins.
If I was a gambling man my money would be on solvent cleaning and storage in the paper envelopes, no toning agent needed. JMO.
Happy New Year, enjoy your fathers collection exactly as you received them as they are priceless!

 

What's is this other site you keep mentioning?
They must of traumatized you

 

Thanks

 

They look cleaned to me and they have retoned. Probably from whatever was used to clean them. Those are pretty strong colors.

 

It is the Coin Forum. And like every site there are jerks who think they know it all and their view is the only correct one. However to disrespect someone’s inherited by making a statement they would not give $5 for the whole collection in my opinion is out of line and very disrespectful.

 

The toning on the five coins posted is not natural. They were cleaned at some point.

 

AT for sure,they look cleaned and doctored.

 

Your coins look like they may have been cleaned with an ammonia based metal polish around 20 + years ago.
This one I did around 1982. Toning on top heavy wear.

 

Interesting. And good to know

 

Then it's likely that someone else cleaned them before he got them. They show unmistakable signs of cleaning -- smooth, shiny surfaces, coupled with extensive wear.

 

Looks like the 1961D was cleaned so much the reverse is now a wheat back!!! I agree with cleaned and polished!!!

 

@Richard Kennedy While the majority of the coins are well-worn, IMO I don't see the tell-tale fine hairlines that would be indicative of a metal polish (unless it was done a very long time ago, and then placed back into circulation for some time). As for the toning, there are examples in PCGS Coin Facts for all of your Date/MM combinations that show multi-color toning, so it is not out of the question that these coins could have toned in the Manilla Envelopes over the years. BTW, unless you have an extreme rarity, the Reverse shown for the 1961-D is NOT a match for the Obverse.

 

I have to agree with @Dynoking on this one.

 

Yes and these coins have been stored in them for 40-50 years in a metal coin box.

 

If not messed with then they were exposed to something while stored. What was kept in the steel box with the coins? If the steel box wasn't airtight then where was it stored?

 

All I know it was store in top of a closet and box was not sure right.

 

if the "brown envelopes" were the little manilla like ones, very likely that's what retoned them, and he might have gotten them shiny and cleaned and put them up and that's how they turned out re-toning from the envelope.

The older yellow/brown envelopes aren't manilla (well it is, but manilla is another name for kraft paper also, just a slightly different process), but the early ones were kraft paper. and kraft paper offgasses sodium hydroxide and sodium sulphide that its saturated with in the pulping process of the wood.

if the surfaces were original, and MS, you might have something there, even if the kraft paper envelopes did the toning, but they just look like worn cleaned coins that were artificially toned even if it was accidental, it falls into the "altered surfaces"