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Just saw your beautiful 43P war nickel on another thread. I cannot remember where I read about the only (unique) FS 69D, but now I know why you asked. Would you, or anyone else, know what the oldest FS nickel is?
A good friend is painting a house in a town called Mashpee it is the home of the Wampanoag Native Americans. Most of the towns are very old where I live. So, he is outside walking to the truck, and he spots an old rusty quarter laying in the black dirt and passes it by. After about two or three times seeing in the dirt, he said ah what the heck and picks it up. After seeing the coin, he gives me a shout
You are correct that there are many people out there attempting to create colorful coins to fool people and extort money for the pretty colors. Sadly, this does work at times and there are people who fall victim to this area of coin doctoring.
Toning is a very deep subject with many nuances, even the TPG's like NGC and PCGS are fooled when it comes to real vs artificial toning at times, I can guarantee you that there are toned coins in both holders that are not natural. Books have been written on the subject of toning; it is a complex area. And toning is different for the different types of metals, and in many cases it is different for uncirculated coins vs coins that have circulated in commerce. It takes a lot of time studying and looking at multiple real and artificially toned coins to develop your eye to spot it.
One universal thing which was touched on by @EagleRJO is color progression, in nature colors seldom have hard lines. Think about when you look at a rainbow, those colors blend from one to the other, not one color then bam the next color. Now look at the coins in your palm, notice how the colors are not blending, they look like the colors were painted on like the old paint by numbers that you may have done as a child. Then look at the photo in @Lem E post, notice how the colors on that liberty nickel softly blend from one to the next, no hard lines. Also notice how the colors on the cents in your palm are flat and lifeless compared to the nickel where the colors are more vibrant and have a somewhat iridescent look, this is easier to see in hand but once you know what it looks like you can spot it easier in photos. Real toning will move and react to light as you rotate the coin under a proper light source, where most artificial toning does not, it just lays there and has no movement or life to it. Then again some forms of real toning, like toning that happens to coins in some of the US mint packaging, will have a very different look. That look can simulate the surface of a dry lakebed, with a crackled look to it, totally natural from the mint cello but very different.
Toning is a very hard thing to master, I have been collecting for decades and I am still learning when it comes to toning each and every day. That is one of the reasons I like to go the local monthly coin show, not to buy but simply to look and talk to dealers and collectors. After you look at thousands of toned coins both raw and in TPG holders you will begin to develop your eye and see the things that distinguish real from artificial, even if we never fully master toning.
I can only speak for myself, and the answer will depend on what coin I am looking for. Personally, I much prefer a bright original red cent vs a toned one when looking for or at uncirculated coins, but for a circulated copper coin my preference is for a nice even brown color. But in even with copper I have examples of toned coins that I find to be extremely attractive, just not something that I actively hunt for. For silver coins I again prefer them to be blast white just as they looked when they were struck, but the older the coin the less I expect blast white. As silver ages it will mellow and tone naturally, no coin can stay as struck unless stored in a vacuum. And here again, I have many toned examples that I find very attractive just not what I necessarily hunt for.
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