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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Lehigh96, post: 1868628, member: 15309&quot;]The Sunnywood posts quoted by Jim should answer just about any question anyone can have about toning progressions.&nbsp; The standard rule of thumb is to look for repeating patterns of yellow-magenta-cyan where those are the categories of colors.&nbsp; Magenta would encompass all oranges, reds, pinks and cyan would include all of the greens &amp; blues.</p><p><br /></p><p>That said, proper color progressions are not a foolproof method for determining the difference between AT &amp; NT.&nbsp; And as Doug et al have pointed out, there is no way to definitely determine the originality of toning on many many coins.&nbsp; Some AT coins are so poorly made that they are easily identifiable but a good AT coin done by a skilled coin doctor will often pass muster at the TPG&#039;s and will certainly fool the average collector.</p><p><br /></p><p>The best way to approach the subject of rainbow toning is to understand how the TPGs approach it.&nbsp; They don&#039;t use the terms artificial or natural.&nbsp; Instead they use the term questionable toning and market acceptable.&nbsp; The reason for this is simple:&nbsp; they really don&#039;t know with any certainty.&nbsp; All they know when they evaluate a toned is if the toning is considered market acceptable by the numismatic community.&nbsp; But as time goes by and new information and facts come to light, certain toning patterns &amp; color schemes that were once deemed market acceptable can lose that status and become questionably toned.&nbsp; Examples of this would include Appalachian Jefferson Nickels, Peacock Ikes, &amp; Blue IHC.</p><p><br /></p><p>The TPGs do their best to look for proper toning progressions &amp; color schemes for each series, to look for evidence of air transfer toning as well as detect the use of liquids or powders, and evaluate things like the toning correspondence from obverse to reverse.&nbsp; But in the end, their determination of the toning is still their best guess.&nbsp; They don&#039;t know the storage method or owner&#039;s intent of any coin they grade and they must make their determination solely on the information provided by the coin itself.&nbsp; If think of the difference between AT &amp; NT as a sliding scale with AT at the far left and NT at the far right, the difference between the QT (questionably toned) coins and MA (market acceptable) coins in the middle becomes very difficult.</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o59/ACPitBoss/Jefferson%20Nickels%20Raw/ToningScale.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o59/ACPitBoss/Jefferson%20Nickels%20Raw/ToningScaleFirst.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><img src="http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o59/ACPitBoss/Jefferson%20Nickels%20Raw/ToningScaleLast.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Now the 1963 Jefferson Nickel that I have listed as borderline QT/MA resides in NGC plastic.&nbsp; What are the chances that it would grade again if I cracked it out and resubmitted it?&nbsp; I don&#039;t know, but I certainly am not willing to find out and lose the value that the plastic currently provides.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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