Is this toning AT or NT?

This is the 1st toned Franklin Half I have owned. It looks BU in hand. Not sure what it would grade.

I have several toned Morgans and am used to how they tone naturally over time. I have very little experience with Franklin's and toning though. But have noticed some tone dark gold while others do have some color to them.

Is this how a Franklin Half Dollar normally tones? Or has this been artificially toned? Also what do think it would grade out as?

Thanks...Mont

 

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this is a hard 1 to know. was it raw when you bought it ? wait for ther experienced opinions...

 

The bright spotting makes me think it would details grade

 

looks like some substance leaked/splashed onto it

 

Could be natural toning on the base layer, but the blue spots look like environmental damage.

 

I would vote AT, (Questionable color)

 

That's pretty nice there.I thought they weren't any good.but they are so popular these days.the New Lincoln penny's are extremely weird.

 

Thanks for all the opinions.

My hunch on this one after seeing it in my photos is that this is At as well. The sellers photos didn't show all the purple in it. Looked more gold...but you could see the blue spots. Didn't put 2 and 2 together and see them as possible splash marks from the chemicals they used to tone it.

Oh well live and learn.

Thank you. Even though this is AT, I still like the way it looks. May have learned a lesson with this one, but still ended up with a pretty cool looking coin IMO.

 

AT no longer exists.

Case in point: https://forums.collectors.com/discu...ed-cardboard-toning-formerly-waffle-toning/p1

Obviously Artificially Toned in every sense of the wording since, to be quite honest, very few folks actually store their coins in corrugated cardboard holder soooooo.

However, UT is alive and well. Meaning "Ugly Toning" which is only marketable to thoise that cannot afford NT or good AT.

While the OP Franklin is indeed toned, whether its artificial or natural is unimportant, the important thing is that it'is not "desirable" toning. This means that it would go in any direction.

But hey, whatever winds your clock.

 

Who knows? certainly not the grading companies......

 

As a collector of toned coins, I have to say the market for toned ASEs has gone beyond the point of lunacy. I cannot believe the premiums some people are paying for slabbed neon toners like those.

 

For me there is only intentional toning and unintentional toning. Both can be market acceptable or not market acceptable. Your Frankie looks like it may be a victim of less than desirable storage conditions.

 

AT and a poor job of it.... There are an abundance of AT coins on the market because of the premiums.... Profiteering has no ethics...

 

I've been collecting toned Franklins for about 30 years now. IMO the imaged coin is UNQUESTIONABLY an AT Franklin.

Here's a link to my Registry set, which should give you some info on toning on Franklins:

https://coins.www.collectors-society.com/registry/coins/SetListing.aspx?PeopleSetID=8611&Ranking=ngc

I would STRONGLY recommend that after you've read the "Set Description" you click on either the "Gallery" or "Slideshow" buttons and look at the coins.

FWIW, there are 5 ways that Franklins primarily tone up; Mint Set, Album, Envelope, End of Roll (EOR), and assorted holders. (And, of course, AT). Paper/cardboard Mint Sets were produced in 1948 - 1949 and 1951 - 1958. These are the ones that will produce classic Mint Set toning. There were no Mint Sets produced in 1950, and from 1959 onwards the Mint packaged Mint Sets in flatpack plastic, which, for the most part, did not allow coins to tone.

In my Registry collection

I would say the following coins are Mint Set toned:
1948 PD, 1949 PDS, 1951 PS, 1952 PDS, 1953 DS, 1954 PDS, 1955, 1956, 1957 PD, and 1958 PD.

I would say the following coins are album toned:
1950 D, 1961 D, 1963 PD.

I would say the following coins are Envelope toned:
1950 P, 1951 D, 1953 P, 1961 P, and 1962 P. (Possibly 1962 D).

The following coins are in the assorted holder category:
1959 PD, 1960 D.

Sometimes people would stick a flatpack era Franklin in a cardboard era cardboard holder for the toning. I suspect that is what occurred to the 1960 P. Speaking of that coin, and the 1959 P for that matter, SOMETIMES the P mint silver coins of those two years would get linear toning stripes on one side of the coin. No one is exactly sure why, but the best theory that I've heard of is it had something to do with the rolling process for the silver sheet the planchets were stamped out of.

I hope this helps with your understanding of toning on Franklins.

 

Thanks @Skyman. While I was convinced it was AT...your link gace me a really good idea of what to look for in NT in Franklins. BTW your '53 and'58 P's are outstanding IMO...heck your whole collection made me drool a little bit those 2 stood out to me.

 

Amen Doug.

 

I have quite a few Franklin's that have nearly identical toning. I don't know about this one, but the ones that I have were picked out of bank rolls by my grandmother, so I really doubt that she artificially toned them, she was just saving them for silver. Maybe it just has something to do with the high heat and humidity down here. Having said that, I don't find it to be appealing toning and would carry no premium for me.

 

The toning on that Franklin does not look natural to me. Skyman's in depth comments are very informative.