I took a gamble and bid on an Ebay listing with a lousy photo, and picked it up for about 15% below Greysheet. I got the coin in the mail today in a ratty looking slab that I just finished polishing with Turtle Wax. To my pleasant surprise I ended up with the gold toned beauty that you see here. I looked at some past auction results and, although there were some Liberties with gold toning, I didn't see any as dramatically toned as this one. How much premium, if any, does this type of toning fetch on today's market? Even if I didn't strike it rich, is this coin at least worth above bid? I know it's not an MS67 "monster coin", but at least I feel lucky when a blurry photo turns out to be something like this...
In my experience, gold toning is pretty common on Liberty Nickels and most Liberty Nickel collectors would not pay a premium price for a monochromatically toned coin. I would expect the toning on that coin to be neutral with regards to the value.
It is pretty common to have a nice golden tone, but it would add a very minimal premium if any. I personally like the gold toning and pay up for pieces that I really like.
Thanks Lehigh and Kirkuleez for the feedback. Even if there is not much if any premium I'm still happy. Gold toning on anything looks really cool. I figure at less than $90 I got a great deal on the coin.