How much do you spend on AT coins?

Ah, Ajax. Know it well, but have you tried 'Bar keepers Friend'? Most marvelous stuff. Keeps the ol' bathtub clean and tidy........

 

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Toning Crap? Oh, my heavens--another newbie with a chip on his/her shoulder. lol

 

Whoa...that's a little harsh man. I think the book is awesome and educational, there's some great science and information in it.

 

There is too much in this hobby that is still to be learned about toning and the thousands of ways AT can be made to look like NT for anyone to be making definitive statements about toning. As long as there is a financial incentive to AT coins well, it WILL be done. Thiourea can be used in a > 7.0 pH (alkali) solution to do some awesome AT, when used in an atomizer. It is an area where I am doing some original and unpublished research. I don't rely on reading alone; my profession is research, which sometimes means getting the ol' beakers and rubber gloves out.

 

Are you a chemist too?

 

It would be good to have another scientist on the boards.

 

Not by degree, but by "practice", yes. I spent over 25 years in the photo lab biz. As you know, the heart of all of traditional photography is based on chemicals reacting with silver compounds, and the organic dye-forming chemistry that uses silver compounds as a catalyst.

Eastman Kodak was once the world leading supplier of chemicals to the consumer, and I sold and used a pile. So no, I am not qualified in all chemistry, but I do have a silver-related specialty.

 

The other thing I know for certain is that slabs are NOT airtight and toning can and does continue in them. In fact, the older small ANACS slabs ACCELERATED toning on at least copper coins, and I even see it with some silver ones. All attractive toning is but an intermediate step on the way to black. I choose not to pay a premium for toning because I know how easy it is to fake. I ALSO don't fault anyone for liking the toned stuff. Absent coercion, it's pretty much all good.

If you want an INSTANT education on artificial toning, just hang out at any highly active coin club, and keep your ears perked up over the coffee and doughnuts.

 

You are assuming that all artificial toning is the same as normal oxidation of the coin, and this is not true. Artificial toning is often unstable as opposed to natural toning which is stable under normal numismatic storage conditions. This suggests that chemically the two are different. Artificial toning might result from the same mechanism depending on the technique, but there are many different ways to artificially tone a coin.

 

Hi. I'm glad that you enjoy blast white coins, but the older the coin the less likely that "blast white original issues" exist. Unless you are collecting Morgans/Peace Dollars or moderns, blast white coins are overwhelmingly dipped; thus it is contradictory to describe such pieces as original.

 

But you might not be alive in 50-100+ years to see a monster develop. Moreover, not all toning is desirable and aesthetic. The majority of it is neutral or negative. You cannot predict what each piece will look like. Each is a scientific work of art.

 

All silver terminates as black. We just get to enjoy the transition.

 

Neither toning is really "stable". If the AT was done well, it would be just as stable as the NT. Neither would be stable worth a darn if placed on a window in the air and sun.

 

I get people paying more for colorful aesthetically pleasing toning. Where I leave the tone train is when I see the splotchy brown stuff cause TPG's to throw around ridiculous grades like 8's and 9's. The kicker is that the splotchy brown stuff is so easy to fake that my first attempt years ago was just about perfect. And I've been experimenting with more advanced delivery devices since. Rainbows that creep in from the edges are the toughest.

 

Me I'm a color nut and the rainbow edge album toning is absolutely a favorite. I'm also a big fan of that mellow gunmetal gray early circulated silver gets when it's never been dipped or cleaned. I'll pay a premium and often a big one for toning and surface Other then a few Morgans I own very few blast white coins

 

I said under normal numismatic storage conditions, meaning those used by serious numismatists. Under proper storage, NT can be virtually arrested and it will change very little even in several decades. I don't disagree that some AT can be stable, but much of it isn't. Either way, it directly challenges the poster I quoted who treats all AT alike and equates it with natural toning. His claim is specious at best. Chemically identical substances should act the same under the same reaction conditions.