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Message:: [QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 3442828, member: 101855"]When I starting collecting in the 1960s and started buying coins from dealers circa 1964, "white silver" was pretty much the norm. People expected silver to the dipped or cleaned white. "Toned silver coins" were viewed as something that was a bit odd and totally to be trusted. The "experts" view was that toning could hide a lot (which it can) and that collectors were better off if they purchased the white coins were they could see all of the surfaces easily without the interference of toning. The very first "old silver coin" I purchased was a 1799 silver dollar. (Not the one I've pictured here.) It graded VF-35 and was white, although it didn't have any cleaning hairlines. When I sold it in the mid 1970s, a dealer gave me a premium price for it quite voluntarily. Today that coin would probably be a bear to sell looking like that, but I’ll bet it’s been darkened. That’s why so many Bust Dollars have questionable surfaces and color. They had to be “fixed” to catch up with the times.[/QUOTE]