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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Marsyas Mike, post: 4892770, member: 85693&quot;]The description of &quot;cabinet toning&quot; is helpful - I&#039;ve always been a bit confused about this.&nbsp; I recall reading somewhere that the contrast between darker fields and lighter devices came from the coins being rubbed as the drawers of a cabinet were opened and closed - this struck me as implausible, but I&#039;ve never owned or handled a coin cabinet. </p><p><br /></p><p>Please correct me if I am wrong, but I wanted to be clear on this point:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Toning:</b>&nbsp; Usually referring to the darkening of a silver coin; easily removed, sometimes just by rubbing it with your thumb.&nbsp; AE coins tone as well - take a dark pre-1982 penny out of your change jar and rub it between your finger and thumb - it will shine up, not to original luster, but shinier.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Patina:</b>&nbsp; Chemical process on AE coins only where the surface is coated with essentially a new surface, a process which takes a long time (which is ancient coins are patinated, but not, say, 18th century British pennies).&nbsp; This patina-surface is very hard, and very difficult to remove as it has become part of the coin.&nbsp; Sand patinas are a variation of this, similar but not chemically bonded to the coin (soaking in water can remove a sand patina). </p><p><br /></p><p>I realize this isn&#039;t very scientific - there are threads that go into much greater detail.&nbsp; I&#039;m just going by memory here (most of what I know about patina/toning I got from CT).&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>As for rainbow toning (not patina), a few years back a seller on eBay was selling scads of silver crowns - Morgans as well as foreign stuff - Philippine pesos, Mexican 8 reales, etc. - with wild rainbow toning like that Morgan in the OP.&nbsp; He described them with a straight face as having magnificent tone, etc.&nbsp; Obviously he was producing these on an industrial scale. </p><p><br /></p><p>Curious, I poked around on the web looking to see how this was done.&nbsp; As I dimly recall, you can get this effect on a coin by baking them in the oven.&nbsp; There may have been more to it than that, but all I remember was applying heat.&nbsp; Ancient Aussie&#039;s description of using a torch sounds like pretty much the same result with a slightly different method.&nbsp; I pictured this eBay seller with cookie sheets full of silver crowns, freshly baked, sitting out to cool.&nbsp; Yum. </p><p><br /></p><p>The prices this guy was getting on eBay was impressive - by &quot;rainbow toning&quot; a &quot;slider&quot; Morgan or a slightly scruffy 1903 Philippine peso, he seemed to be getting about double what they were generally selling for.&nbsp; No, I did not buy any of them.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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