I REALLY REALLY liked this coin so if it ends up being AT I'll be fine with that since I plan on keeping it. I don't think its AT because I could have sworn I've seen slabbed coins with similar NT patterns. If this is AT I'm very impressed!! Hope you guys enjoy the coin regardless. -Zach
I am unwilling to call the coin artificially toned from that photograph. While the photo leads us to believe it might be questionably toned, I would much rather see a clear photo taken in proper lighting at a less extreme angle. The color progressions on the obverse seem to be consistent with target toning that forms on an album coin. The problem is that the reverse shows almost no toning whatsoever. If the coin were truly and album toner, we would expect to see concentric target toning on both sides of the coin. Having said that, it is possible that someone removed the obverse slide which accelerated the obverse toning. If I had to make a determination based solely on that photo, I would say that it is not market acceptable and I doubt that it would grade at either PCGS or NGC. Still, the coin is very attractive and I would be willing to pay a small premium, maybe 1.5X price guide for the appropriate grade.
It shares some qualities of what I consider to be NT, but overall the fabric of the coin is telling me AT and I believe the TPGs would agree with that assessment.
Thank you guys for responding, I was hoping you would show up Lehigh. You said you would pay 1.5x if the coin was AT what would you think this would be if it was NT? 3x? I'll have to wait to get the coin and I'll try and take some pictures. I just thought the coin was extremely attractive, normally AT coins don't appeal to me but this coin really stood out for some reason. Hopefully when I get the coin we can make a better decision.
