So I've got a willing buyer, but I just don't know the value on these coins. They are common date Morgans in brilliant condition, with nice rainbow toning. The first pic shows two different coins. One has a rainbow covering about the top third of the obverse. The second has toning that covers most of the obverse... the left half is silver that has turned dark, the right half is colorful toning. The second pic is to photos of the same coin. The out-of-focus pic captures the colors better. This coin has a weird-shaped color patch on the reverse. (The unphotographed sides of each coin is brilliant, no toning.) Any ideas? Without the toning they would fetch about $23 from the local dealer.
It all depends, I've seen toning add over 100% to the price of some coins and I've seen toning detract from the value of a coin. There is no clear price setting on that kind of item. Toned coins are hot in the market now, so they may fetch a bit more.
I'm no expert on toned Morgans but I have bought a few and watched a lot of them. The value is very subjective and can vary from week to week and day to day. You might get more for them next week than you can get today. There's no definitive answer or price guide to follow. It's really based on how dramatic the toning is on the coin, the quality and how the colors play out. Your coins show the common color progression of bag toned morgans. Especially the last two pics of that reverse. It can be very hard to photograph. The reason the last one has the weird patch on it is because many Morgans sat in burlap bags at the mints unused, for decades. They were govt. mandated to be produced but not needed for circulation. That is the short story. The parts of the coins that came in contact with the burlap bags ended up having a chemical reaction take place on the surface of them. Any parts of the coin that was covered up and protected by other coins in the bag, did not tone. The protected areas remain bright, shiny silver. So looking at the reverse on the bottom pics, it would appear that another coin overlapped most of it and another overlapped it from the side. Leaving that small portion to tone against the bag. It has the nice, typical color pattern but it is a small patch, which would most likely cause it to have a small premium over it's normal price. I do really like it though. I can't say I've ever seen one with a little area like that. I'd be happy to own it. But, basically, for someone's first toned coin, they would probably be very happy with it. Regular toning enthusiasts may not be as interested with it. It probably wouldn't have a high demand on the market, which like I said, would likely lead to a small premium. But who knows? The top two could fetch a reasonable premium. If slabbed, I'd say $100 each wouldn't be out of the question. Maybe more. Are you selling the bottom one? What date is it? If you are looking to sell it, shoot me a PM. I think it's pretty cool.
Bit of a correction here, the coins did not have to come into contact with the bag to tone. Some did contact the bag and some did not - yet both obtained colorful toning. Those that came into contact with the bag have a very different toning pattern known as textile toning where the pattern of the fabric is impressed in the toning itself. Those that did not come into contact with the bag do not have this textile pattern in the toning at all.
Ok. Yeah, I've seen those before. I guessed that the bags may not have all been the same where some may not have had as deep of a textile pattern in them. In other words, one bag might have been smoother so no pattern would have showed up. I don't know if they were all the same for all mints or not. I questioned it because you rarely see a textile pattern toned coin and you would think you would see a lot more of them. I'd say it's almost a 100 to 1 ratio.
That's because there are so few of them. Think about it. There are 1000 coins in each bag. Maybe 10%, 100, of those coins can be touching the bag itself. The rest, 900, are buried inside with those first 100 stopping them from touching the bag. But many of those 900 still have colorful toning - and they did not touch the bag at all. Now you also have to understand that even those 100 coins on the outside that are touching the bag - only some of them develop the colorful toning. Some remain white, some tone to a grey color. And the same is true of the coins buried inside the outer layer of coins. Not all of them tone either, and only some of them develop colorful toning. The point is, the coins did not have to touch the bag itself in order for them to develop toning. You were saying that they did - and they didn't.
I stand corrected then. Yes, I did try to envision what would be going on inside the bag and realize that the amount of toned coins would be much smaller than non-toned. So are you saying that a partially exposed (to air) coin in the very middle of the pile in a mint bag, could colorfully tone like this? My question is, how far in would the chemical from the bag in the air be potent enough to tone, if they didn't have to physically touch the bag? I've always envisioned the outer layer being the most exposed, causing the most chemical reaction, and much past that towards the center, was probably not as affected, if at all. Being much more protected by the outer coins, even though not being air tight.
You are correct in your thinking. The inner coins were much less likely to tone. But still some did. The Proof of this is quite simple, look at all the coins with crescent shaped toning - but no textile toning on them. Remember, it is the air that causes the toning - not the bag itself. The bag merely adds gasses to the air. And the air permeated the entire bag and all its contents - clear through. Just like how a coin in an Air-Tite or a TPG slab can tone - and they are not touching anything - so too did the coins buried deep inside the bag. You see, if the coin was direct contact with the bag, then it has to have textile toning on it. The exception would be if only the edge of the coin were touching the bag. But all others where the face of the coin touched the bag - they will have the textile toning pattern, without exception. It can be no other way because where the coin touches the threads and fabric of the bag, the toning is less. That's what created the textile pattern.
