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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;medoraman, post: 5403136, member: 26302&quot;]Patina is kind of ok. Patina is the outer surface aging naturally. Copper darkens, silver tones, gold does nothing, (the impurities in the gold alloy is what darkens gold, either that or environmental deposits). How we use the word patina for ancients all modern coins are too young. Patina for ancient coins is the hard encrustation that protects the underlying metal. It takes untold centuries to form this.</p><p><br /></p><p>Problem is, &quot;patina&quot; for modern coins is not stable like it is for ancients. Ancients are formed underground, mainly away from oxygen, so it forms, stabilizes, then protects the coin. Patina for modern coins is exposed to oxygen, so it can easily convert to corrosion, especially silver. Many people here know the color spectrum of toning, but not enough talk about the end. At the end it turns a shiny black. MAYBE the coin underneath is still ok, maybe not. After that it is what I call &quot;matte black&quot;. There is no hope the coin is not severely damaged underneath &quot;matte black&quot; toning. It is full out corrosion. Silver toning is ok, I find it pretty, but you simply MUST stop it from progressing if you want to save the coin. Keep it in a very dry, cool area with dessicant away from sunlight and sulfur sources.</p><p><br /></p><p>Btw [USER=112]@GDJMSP[/USER] will probably disagree that gold does not tone. It is one of the very few things I have ever disagreed with Doug about. I have friends who have metal detected around the world, and they claim they have always dug up pure gold coins and they come out of the ground completely clean, be it 200 years old or 2400 years old. Pure gold coinage cannot tone. Now, the imperfections in the alloy sure can, and the modern world can surely deposit microscopic layers upon unprotected coins layer upon layer until it might appear to be toning, but that is the extent IMHO.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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