I saw them about 8 months ago and now they have expanded their inventory.....amazing how anyone other that the rankest of novices would buy there.
I bought a single coin from them and paid immediately, but it was never shipped. I think I was the only bidder and the starting bid was quite low. Messages remained unanswered. eBay gave me a refund after I had opened a case...
A good reason not to buy toned coins unless they are slabbed by a reputable TPG. The only ones I own have toned in the albums.
It makes me wonder. If new numismatists are buying these, it's probably because they like the look. If that's the case, is it possible that as time goes by, let's say 20-30 years from now, AT coins will be accepted? I know a percentage of those buyers will have a change of heart on their liking of the coin as they learn the difference between AT and NT, but there will be many that are buying these because they like them, and don't care if they're AT or NT. Which makes me think that down the road, these may be as sought after as NT's are now. In a way, the AT'd coins tend to have a 'cleaner' look to the coloring (none of that brown spottiness), and they tend to come in pretty neons and pastels. A novice is only a novice for a certain time frame, and then they become intermediate collectors, and as intermediates, they still may like and seek out these types just because it has the eye appeal they like. Remember, it wasn't that long ago people would clean the heck out of their coins because they were tarnished (aka toned), but now, that same 'tarnish' commands a high premium. Like I said.... just wondering.
They already have to some extent. There's already people who know exactly what they're doing that really don't care how or why a coin toned and are only concerned with whether or not they like the current look of it. That certainly could continue to grow over time. Really a lot of people make a lot of assumptions about what toning is and isn't natural and don't give nature anywhere near enough credit for what it's capable of. That said there are threads about the subject of the thread on multiple forums particularly the CU forum
The raw coins all seem to be AT, some of the slabbed coins even. The NGC star Morgans are OK, after flipping through 14 pages i spotted one of my old coins, so they do buy some coins already toned. Some of the slabbed, Canada coins look fishy, not sure if PCGS is giving a straight grade or if they are toning them in the slab.
I'm not sure why the coin in the OP's link would be suspicious. I looked at the NGC cert photos and they show the same toning pattern. The photo in the listing does look better though, but it's hard to say if it is juiced or just better lighting.
Id say some of his are NT like that morgan, but I refuse to do buissness with him unless its a cherrypick.
he messaged me to buy one of my coins. I have people with no-payment hits against them blocked and he said he had one in error and asked me to remove that restriction so he could buy it. Although part of me wanted to see what he'd do since it had a true view attached to it and would be easy to prove what we all know he does.
Is artificially toning coins a trend now or something? They even AT some of my more obscure silver-proof World coins that I follow. I hadn't seen it before. Since Doug told me kinda how to spot it, I think I can see how they use some sort of potion to swirl around the coin to AT it. But I'm not sure how to tell AT vs. NT with any certainty. Long story short: I ain't gonna buy toned nuthin' nomore.
