Why are toned coins so popular?

Count me in. I agree with you and also thought you expressed your points very well.

On the other hand, talk about squaring a circle! Here you go;

"I want original luster so much that I prefer artificially exposing my coins to a chemical dip to see if that look can be recreated."

This says nothing about what happens to dipped coins over time.

The natural change to coins over time can be unpredictable and that is probably one reason why a beautifully naturally toned coin is so valued. They are not only pleasing to the eye, the gorgeous ones are truly rare. Here is one I like:

 

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Time won't accomplish squat without the cooperation of chemicals, whether those chemicals are atmospheric oxygen and moisture, other gases, liquids, or solids.

Depending on the chemicals, that time can be centuries, years, months, or seconds.

 

There is no way in haydees I would be able to tell. But as the man said, if it looks good to me and I can afford it, it's coming home with me!

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I'm not interested in luster if the coin just has natural age toning - brown for copper and shades of grey for silver. That kind of toning I can, and do, live happily with. What will never be seen on any coin I own is this:



Why does rainbow toning mainly appear on Morgans and late 20th century coins? It's very rarely seen on 18th and early 19th century coins. If it's a natural process shouldn't we see it on the Seated Liberty series half dimes, dimes, double dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollars? How about the various silver bust coins? Yes, someone will probably come up with counter examples but for every one of those I can show thousands of Morgans or ASE's with supposedly natural rainbow toning.

BTW, I collect only type coins and am only missing a few from the 1700's. There are plenty that are toned but absolutely no rainbows.

 

A good friend owns this. Oh Myyy! Much rather have this than...



This:

 

The answer to that is exceedingly simple, and something that a collector of your experience should already know. Morgan Dollars were produced by the millions which created an unnecessary surplus of coins for the over produced common date years. These coins were placed in $1K sulfur laden canvas bags and stored in old bank vaults for decades without the benefit of climate control. As a result, the coins near the canvas surface often yielded fantastically rainbow bag toning. And for as many as are still available today, many multiples of those were sent to dipping factories to make them shiny and new again when toning was frowned upon once upon a time.

As for the other series you mention. They don't exhibit dramatic bag toning because they were not subjected to the same storage conditions that Morgan Dollars were. That said, I have seen toned examples of every 19th century series you mentioned. The large majority of those exhibit secondary toning after being dipped and placed in a coin album with sulfur rich paper.

Your contention that rainbow toning is not a natural process has been debunked many many times. The science is well known, and has been posted on this very forum. Have you never read Jason Poe's post on the subject?

https://www.cointalk.com/threads/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-science-of-toning.84670/

I just resurrected it for you and anyone else who wants to learn about toning.

 

I despise artificially toned coins, it's like they are trying to fool people into thinking they are real. I try to buy every natural toned coin that comes into my LCS. I dearly love a Morgan that spent many years in an albulm and has gold, blue, purple red rim target toning. I also love fully toned Morgan's but they are a little harder for me to come by. My local dealer doesn't charge me any more for a toned vs. a blast White Morgan. Color to me is art and I love them.

 

because some artificial coins looks very faked. there are some AT doctors that can make it look natural. I have bought a few coins that were "improperly cleaned" that toned naturally, but I always have that question on my mind that it was A.T. it would be your call. if it looks to questionable... then only pay so much (cheap) or not at all.

 

The 69 D is in Au condition, The silvered areas are an artifact of circulation. This is easily detected because of the tone, and color.
Finger print. scuff from chin to field and the obvious flash from someone's oily hand across the hair and back of head.The reverse shows also the same type of rubs though, harder to distinguish because of the light color in my opinion.
The coin became part of my collection from a set of Kennedys 64 to 2001 I believe, in a flat one sided display, every coin probably was put there as the collector acquired it. Even the clad Kennedys acquired a Blue or gold hue.
You may try to call it the environment, that it was stored, but to think that original coins should be blast white, is preposterous.
A coin in my opinion should at least look like the reverse of this Half dollar.
All metals when mixed with an alloy will tone. Blast white coins are for the most part cleaned. Hence Toned = original.

 

Sure it is preposterous and I have never claimed that that is what I want. I don't expect it. If you want to claim that a coin is toned just because it is blast white then that is your choice. What I don't like are those coins which are colored or just a dull brown. I want my coins to have some semblance of the original condition but don't expect them to be totally like that.

 

But looking faked is then part of the appearance. So we as still back to choosing coins based purely on appearance. If someone likes the look of an AT coin then rejecting it just because it is artificial seems somewhat, well, artificial.

 

I collect both. I also like blue and pink. Not all shades of pink but some not a fan ofbpowder blue either but i nice burnt orange is gorgeous but construction orange makes me puke. So i guess i like stuff and i dont like stuff. But i know if i had a nice powder blue car for sale i would be happy someone likes that color and wants it.....the beauty of collecting is you get to decide what has value to you and dont worry about priceguides unless of course you resell which i also do. But enjoy the act of collecting and giving something your value is the real beauty of life. I have a damaged coin so aesthetically beautiful i cant get myself to return it to the bank. But i am weird

 

You say weird but I like your honesty. I also agree with your statement about "...the beauty of collecting is that you get to decide..."

That to me is a "Nail on the head" statement.

A wiser man than me once said, "some days you get the barr..." no wait, wrong guy.

Here is the right one, highly paraphrased and severely mangled but hopefully understandable;

"we collect because it gives us a method to make sense out of the disarray and disorder all around us. The overwhelming number of possible choices can make a person feel lost. When a direction is chosen and followed it gives the collector a firm definition and point for their efforts and in this way, they can create order out of the chaos."

or maybe simply "...the beauty of collecting is that you get to decide..." says it better after all.

 

It reminds of these beanie babies i wouldnt pay one of my bank return lincolns for ever. YET, some people, and the number is pretty big, buy and sell for way over face value these little stuffed animals. They are cute and cuddly, but not for me. I like cold hard well impressioned metal made by mints. Enjoy collecting it is a lot of fun regardless of your "thing" debating on the right way to collect is a circle and time wasted you could be coin roll hunting or metal detecting etc. To the original poster. Your question is legit i was always curious why people liked toned coins before i started collecting them and then i embraced the one of a kind thing and they are so mesmerizing sometimes. Enjoy your choices and collect what you collect. The experts in this forum are awesome and the advice is great moslty. But almost every thread ends up with some form of an argument of this and that and i say light heartedly follow your own path unless you resell then you need all that other info. Keep the kids coming i to the hobby cause they are the future of coin collectors we are fighting video games and tablets lol....god bless you all i have to go its urgent ebay has a dtuffed frog for 800 bucks and uts so cute im out (Cited from: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/why-are-toned-coins-so-popular.293948/page-10)

 

well some toned coins look market acceptable and some coins you can just tell by the very strange color it is A.T. and not market acceptable. yet people still buy them not knowing what color looks right and what color looks wrong. I have been collecting coins for almost 20 years now and can spot obvious A.T. toned coins. the are exceptions where a coin doctor can make a toned coin look very close to N.T.

 

another reason I collect toned coins is that I can escape in their beauty. they take me to one of my happy places. sort of like great works of art to me that are unique. hard to explain this to you if you do not like toned coins. kind of like you looking at your favorite non toned coin looking at it in amazement and appreciating its beauty.

 

Not any more. You can barely give those things away any more.

 

I think there is a major difference between a coin which has naturally toned as opposed to one that was mechanically altered. Something about a naturally toned coin that is mesmerizing and seems to prompt more thought about the product than just the color such as where it was, how long, and that metal's natural reaction to its environment. Anyone can bake a coin or use a chemical but it takes real time to turn a coin by itself, thus the interest and value to me anyway.

 

Is this some of the most FAKE toning you've ever seen or what? This does NOT look natural to me!