So, I know that many of you like toned coins. Maybe some of you can explain more about the toning process to me. I see rainbow toned coins in auctions sometimes going for two or three times as much as their untoned counterparts. Isn't it true that you could buy something like a toned silver half dollar and it could just keep on toning and all of a sudden be black? If so, that doesn't make much sense to me to pay that much over regular price for it. How stable is that desired "Rainbow Toning" on the coins that you guys own?
Your questions are the reason I don't collect toned coins....despite my icon The can have tons of eye appeal, but there is just too much "it depends on the environment" involved to part me with my money. I'm quite content to view galleries of other folks toners.
Personally, I don't like rainbow toning. It looks [and in many cases probably is] artificial. I like old coins evenly toned in a blue-grey range of color, or some other natural looking hue. It's probably unrealistic to reject all toning since the coins will eventually tone whether you want them to or not -- unless they are dipped. I always thought that once a coin toned, it is somewhat protected from further atmospheric environmental damage. So a toned coin in a holder of some sort should look about the same for decades.
I have never tried it, but I am almost certain that a clean coin could be toned almost anyway you would like it. Basic chemistry to know what you need. Basic engineering to set up a process to achieve that purpose.
tcore - you are correct to a degree, some types of toning will continue on the coin. But most types will not. The vast majority of the time, once a coin is removed from the conditions that caused the toning - the toning stops.
Yup - you can. Many have in fact. But to get good at it, good enough that an experienced eye cannot detect it, requires a good deal of skill. But there are people who can - I know of a few.
