Want to Naturally Tone my Coins for my Collection

[BNBCoins.com-migration]

Hey guys.. was wondering the best way to get some rainbows on some of my BU coins that just sit here. I just want to try this as an experiment. I do not want to AT them by doing any "quick and easy methods", I just want to maybe put them in a Dansco and leave them in there for a year or so.. what variables should i be aware of before doing this? humidity?

 

Do all the coins get toned if I put bright white BU coins in a Dansco or just some? Why is that?

 

Is Dansco the best album to do this with? If not, which one is?

[Bugmann1974]

N/T Rainbows take much longer than 1 year. As far as I know, Danscos do not make for atractive rainbow toning. Look for Wayte Raymond albums, Library of Coins albums, or the blue Whitman albums (not the folders) from the '50s and '60s.

[skippy]

Put them in a Wayte Raymond album, and ask your grandson to check on them in fifty years or so.

[bsshog40]

Attractive AT/NT does not happen in one year. Sorry!

[DWLange]

Old albums are no longer effective in providing attractive toning. They lose their punch after awhile, as the more reactive ingredients stabilize. People buying old Raymond albums for that purpose is a waste of money. I wrote about this topic in the August issue of The Numismatist, and the article will be posted at the NGC site sometime next year.

[jerseycat10]

Old albums are no longer effective in providing attractive toning. They lose their punch after awhile, as the more reactive ingredients stabilize. People buying old Raymond albums for that purpose is a waste of money. I wrote about this topic in the August issue of The Numismatist, and the article will be posted at the NGC site sometime next year.

 

Fascinating. Makes sense. Herein lies a marketing opportunity for the coin album and folder makers. Create folders that facilitate N/T by using the original reactive ingredients.

[Dcoin]

These folders probably have the same active ingredients as a taco bell napkin.

[Hard Times]

Move to the humid SE, buy an ikea pine book shelf with no coatings (any raw pine bookshelf will do), and keep your thermostat in the 80s. Takes 1 to 2 years to build a rich and colorful tone, per side when left on those pine shelves in these conditions.....

 

[johnny9434]

I cant see wasting time N/T coins or A/T coins at that. jmho

[mtnstyne]

I don't know, I have a couple MS morgans in craft envelopes and one in a napkin. Figure I will either check them out about when I retire from my current job or my family will find them when I am gone. I turn 40 next year so I figure I have time to see what happens and the coins are common MS morgans like 1887, 1886.

[BNBCoins.com-migration]

Do you guys think a few album pages would suffice ? or the whole book?

[Mozin]

PCGS is bagging as AT, Bust series coins, that have been in paper coin envelopes for twenty or more years. Go figure.

[RWB]

FYI:

 

http://forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?catid=26&threadid=792513&highlight_key=y&keyword1=BNB

[WoodenJefferson]

I've had various results with Russet potatoes @ 350 degrees for 1.5 hours, altitude 26', 6:00PM-7:30PM CST

 

Butter/sour cream optional.

[Coindude]

WJ: Chives? Bacon Bits? after you said butter and sour cream.... the next natural move was to go a la baked potato!

[BNBCoins.com-migration]

Great posts thus far guys.. Bidding on some of those albums now.. We'll give it a shot.

[physics-fan3.14]

PCGS is bagging as AT, Bust series coins, that have been in paper coin envelopes for twenty or more years. Go figure.

 

That doesn't really jive with this coin, from the Witham collection, which has been in a paper envelope for approximately 50 years. Interestingly, the Heritage auction included the paper envelope in the package.

 

[MBA101]

The services are all over the map on toning, which is silly for 200 year old coins. Coins that old should have toning, and heavy toning in many cases. Its like throwing darts at a AT/NT dart board when you submit something.

 

In response to the above coin, I have one of those too (PCGS XF45) The colors are more like your pics than mine...

 

 

 

[James Mayer-migration]

I have learked around forums for a long time and the question is always asked “how to tone my coins, and make it look NT”, here is the the answer.

 

If you tone them in anyway its not NT.

 

In addition any toning that takes less then lets say ~10 years or more can be spotted on sight. This has to do with the colors relationship to luster(Same if the coin was cleaned or dipped then re-toned) I suggest before you try to go AT any coins you read the PCGS Grading and Counterfeit book it has an introduction to AT/NT and how to spot it.

 

If you looking to fool people in-online stores then try a yellow Kraft envelope in the sun, just keep in mind that coin will never be a problem free coin again.

[ldhair]

You never know what an album will do to a coin. Some may turn out nice over the years and others may be really ugly. I have always thought this had something to do with each coins past storage and care. The change in storage starts a new reaction.

[WoodenJefferson]

The card board inserts from late 50's early 60's proof sets will still tone a coin if the raw coins are inserted between the sheets and wrapped with old brown rubber bands. The combination of the remnant sulfur in the paper and rubber bands can make for some interesting results.

 

Any oils from skin, grime on the surface of the coin will inhibit oxidization and there will be mixed results.

 

I do condone AT'ing a coin, but at least 1/2 of the materials are provided by the mint, the other half provided by the USPS

[bsshog40]

Now there's a story behind this harshly cleaned SAE but the reason I'm posting it is I've had this in a taco bell napkin for the last 2 yrs. It's getting some nice color on the Rev but the Obv is not toning as good. Toning un-naturally doesn't always turn out the way you might want it to.

 

[BNBCoins.com-migration]

The card board inserts from late 50's early 60's proof sets will still tone a coin if the raw coins are inserted between the sheets and wrapped with old brown rubber bands. The combination of the remnant sulfur in the paper and rubber bands can make for some interesting results.

 

Any oils from skin, grime on the surface of the coin will inhibit oxidization and there will be mixed results.

 

I do condone AT'ing a coin, but at least 1/2 of the materials are provided by the mint, the other half provided by the USPS

 

What do you mean by wrap with a rubber band? What would I be wrapping with that exactly?

[Bugmann1974]

The card board inserts from late 50's early 60's proof sets will still tone a coin if the raw coins are inserted between the sheets and wrapped with old brown rubber bands. The combination of the remnant sulfur in the paper and rubber bands can make for some interesting results.

 

Any oils from skin, grime on the surface of the coin will inhibit oxidization and there will be mixed results.

 

I do condone AT'ing a coin, but at least 1/2 of the materials are provided by the mint, the other half provided by the USPS

 

What do you mean by wrap with a rubber band? What would I be wrapping with that exactly?

 

Re-read what he wrote. Its pretty self explanitory.

 

Old albums are no longer effective in providing attractive toning. They lose their punch after awhile, as the more reactive ingredients stabilize. People buying old Raymond albums for that purpose is a waste of money. I wrote about this topic in the August issue of The Numismatist, and the article will be posted at the NGC site sometime next year.

 

You bring up a good point David. It never occured to me (though it should have) that this would be the case.

[JIM F.]

If you are impatient, try blowing cigar smoke over the coins. It's just as natural as coins sitting in a home with tobacco smokers, right? Who wants to debate this one?

 

[PCcoins]

I've had some coins tone nicely from wayte raymond albums, took 3 years so far and there's a long time to go for real "rainbow" toning. The key is patience, and not Tampering with the coins (removing them from their holder, or any movement while in the holder/slot)

[BillJones]

Getting the rainbow colors that are worth something is very hit and miss and there are no guarantees. You might end up with rainbows, but more often than not you just get brown, black or something else that less than attractive. If someone could come up with a foolproof way to get great toning they would have gotten rich by now, and that toning would become much more common.

 

My rule of thumb as always been don’t fool with re-toning if you don’t have to do it. I store almost all of my coins, tokens and medals in ways to avoid toning. The few exceptions are pieces that have been dipped or lightly cleaned. I have used old coin envelopes, and in three to five years, I have usually gotten decent results although no “rainbows.”

 

[Conder101]

You want to naturally tone them? Well don't slab them, put them in albums, envelopes, rolls, or canvas bags with many other coins (to provide varying distances from the coin to the sulfur bearing compounds in the canvas. Make sure you use natural fiber canvas and not the modern plastic fiber canvas.) Store in a warm area where the humidity can vary. Wait seventy years and check results. Dip unsatisfactory or ugly toned pieces and repeat the process until you get what you want.

[messydesk]

Buy a house built several years ago with the sulfur-rich Chinese drywall that was making people sick. Store coins inside the walls. Either they'll change colors or you'll start seeing them.

 

Surprised the Taco Bell napkin didn't come up yet. Is that experiment only known ATS?

 

Coming out and saying you want to tone stuff for your collection is risky if you're also in the business of selling coins. You can easily predispose people to think that everything you sell that happens to have color is AT.

[robec1347]

Surprised the Taco Bell napkin didn't come up yet. Is that experiment only known ATS?

 

Bruce has been posting about Taco Bell toning here for the last 4 years.

 

This may be his First one.