One project I've been considering for a little while is a Dansco 7070 toned type set. While it obviously won't be too difficult to get nice 20th century toners, I'm a little bit more uncertain about the costs and availability of the 19th century assortment. I probably won't insist on finding all rainbow toned pieces - for the earlier coppers, I'd probably just settle for a nice dark chocolate patina. Does anybody have experience with assembling such a set, or have any insight into how difficult/expensive it would be?
Toughest and most expensive would be if you wanted PCGS graded (or PCGS gradable) coins. NGC is a bit more forgiving of color (less picky). If you were going for raw toners (that perhaps or probably would not grade) it would be a lot cheaper. Old US type coins with natural (gradable) color can get very expensive and can be hard to find. 20th Century type coins with gradable color are a lot easier. Adding the requirement of color to a type collection, I think makes it about 2x to 5x more expensive and perhaps 10x to 20x more difficult to find (JMHO). There are some types which are nearly impossible to find toned (like Flying Eagle Cents or Draped Bust Half Dollars -- they are out there but difficult to find.) Other types like Morgan Dollars or Lincoln Cents are a breeze to find with fantastic color. One suggestion I have would be to try for just a single denomination (Half Dollar Types for example) -- it would give you a sense of the difficulty and cost before you got in too deep. Half Dollars is a nice denom to collect since it covers so many of the major types (esp of the early stuff before 1916, where the dime, quarter, and half all used the same design.) The Nickel denomination is also a nice one to start with since there are just 4 major types to focus on: Shield, Liberty, Buffalo, and Jefferson (of course lots of little subtypes in there too).
With all due respect to WingedLiberty, I think PCGS is more willing to grade "market acceptable" toned coins than NGC. Anyway, good luck with your endeavor.
That's a good idea - I might take a stab at half dollars first. The plan is to stick with raw coins, though I'll aim for what I would consider market-acceptable toning. I'm not a big fan of the "oil slick" toning you see on many raw copper and copper-nickel coins. I'm ideally not going to crack out any slabbed coins just to stick them in the album, so hopefully it won't be too difficult to find some problem-free examples of the early 19th century types.
Anyone of modest means who pursues this set to the end, and does so with naturally toned and very attractive coins will be very challenged, yet well-rewarded for their persistence.
What type of toning are you looking for? If you're looking for monster toners like WingedLiberty, you'll be hard-pressed to find those within an affordable budget to suit your interest (and WingedLiberty's been known to find steals as well!). If you're merely looking for coins with (some) color, they should be easier to find. Older (19th century) coins will be harder to find raw, and most attractive coins have been slabbed by now.
If you're really putting the coins in the Dansco 7070 album, you could just buy untoned coins, put them in the album and wait. They will tone eventually... some may tone within a year or two, others may take decades, depending on the coin and how/where the album is stored. But they will most certainly change eventually. Similarly, if you buy a nicely toned coin and put it in the album today, it may not look the same in a few years.
If by "toned" you mean deep grey, auburn and steel coloration for old, circulated silver then that is a great set. If you want instead a more colorful coin with blues, reds or greens then in the great majority of instances you will be hunting for previously cleaned and/or dipped pieces. That is not a set that I would enjoy assembling.
