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Message:: [QUOTE="C-B-D, post: 2019021, member: 43130"]Hello, everyone. In the past couple of months I have successfully conserved 2 coins that had artificial toning. PLEASE NOTE: This is only informational based on my experience. Be careful if attempting to do this for your own coins.  My first successful attempt was on an NGC XF45 1827 Capped Bust Half Dollar, that I bought because it was the unidentified 1827/6 over-date. When I received the coin, it was clearly artificially toned and had what I call a "chalky" appearance to the bluish toning, which hid the luster and dulled the surfaces. Here is the link to that thread, showing the coin: <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/i-thought-i-screwed-up-but-got-rewarded-a-submission-story.248248/" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/i-thought-i-screwed-up-but-got-rewarded-a-submission-story.248248/">https://www.cointalk.com/threads/i-thought-i-screwed-up-but-got-rewarded-a-submission-story.248248/</a> Even though it was in a problem-free NGC holder, it was clearly a problem coin to my eyes, so I cracked it out and used the following method:1. Spend a TON of time inspecting the artificially toned coin for hairlines, scratches, or damage underneath the toning. Use a black light and LED light, which often help bring out underlying hairlines. Usually, coins are artificially toned to hide a problem. HOWEVER, sometimes coins are artificially toned to enhance the color or create more eye-appeal, subjective as it may be, for collectors.2. Use dip diluted heavily with distilled water. I used about 20 parts water to 1 part E*Z*Est coin dip. You can't be too careful here, so water it down even more if you want, and take your time!3. Apply by pouring it over the surfaces repeatedly. Only use a Q-Tip after trying the pouring method repeatedly for a LONG time. Hopefully, you won't need to do this at all. Patience is the key. And when I used a Q-Tip, I did not grind it on the surfaces. I just swept it over lightly in a circular motion, and it lifted the fake tone off the surface. That 1827/6 came back from PCGS as AU50, so not only did I save it from it's artificially toned state, it also upgraded the coin from XF to AU, though this is the exception, not the rule, I am sure. Here is my latest attempt using the same method above. I bought this coin raw for $400 because I thought it was the Tripled Die Reverse FS-801 variety, and it turned out I was right. But the coin was black on the obverse and nearly black on the reverse, save for some colorful fake toning in the center around the eagle. In this case, I inspected the coin exhaustively, and found no evidence of prior cleaning or hidden damage. It appeared to me that someone either wanted to tone the coin to hide the wear and make it appear uncirculated, or they let their artificial toning method go too long and it blackened the coin. In either case, it was apparent in-hand that the toning was artificial. It had that chalky dull look to it. So here are the before and after pics:[ATTACH=full]365097[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]365098[/ATTACH] As you can see, the difference is night and day. The first thing I noticed upon completing the restoration was that the wear on the coin was now easily noticeable on all the high points such as the face, cap, olive branch, eagle head, feathers, etc. Clearly, this is not a BU coin. The second thing I noticed was the luster! Wow! Also, I was happy to see that the die tripling on the reverse was now so prominent, you could see it with the naked eye. Here is a close-up of it:[ATTACH=full]365099[/ATTACH] PCGS graded this coin problem-free AU58, and I had them add the variety to the label. This is my first cherrypicked TDR, FS-801 barber half, and my second restoration of a  coin suffering from artificial toning. So far I'm batting 1000 on these, but I'm sure that one day I'll strike out. I would imagine that this information would be useful to people wanting to remove obviously fake toning from a gemmy coin, particularly Morgan dollars, as those often come artificially toned even though the coin itself may grade MS65.[/QUOTE]

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