Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 3112228, member: 19463&quot;]I tend not to use the term patina for silver which just tones but reserve patina for the heavier surface colors of bronzes (green and others).&nbsp; Bronzes will also tone if not protected by a patina and that toning can be hastened chemically.</p><p>This dupondius of Nero has a green patina:</p><p>[ATTACH=full]789898[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>This one has toned down from the shiny yellow brass it once was but I do not call it a patina (&#039;river&#039; or other).&nbsp; Both coins started the same color.&nbsp; I expect the tone of the second to darken in the next few centuries while the patina of the first should change less due to the protective layer of the patina.&nbsp; Will I be right?&nbsp; Ask me again in 500 years.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]789899[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Below are two denarii of Hadrian.&nbsp; With no further human intervention, I would expect them to be close to the same tone by that time.&nbsp; I have a few coins that are a bit darker now than they were 50 years ago but my thoughts about 500 years are purely speculative.&nbsp; Could we make that 500 years be 500 days?&nbsp; Possibly. Should we?</p><p>[ATTACH=full]789911[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=full]789912[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>It all of a sudden struck me that if TIF is guilty of a toning infraction for leaving a coin out in bad conditions, in bad envelopes or not moving to Arizona then she is also a tone-felon by interfering with the natural order of things by storing a coin in a way that slows progressive darkening and remaining in humidity heaven.&nbsp; If everything is bad then nothing is bad so we must accept her plea of innocence by reason of the ephemeral nature of science.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in