Toning yes or no 1 1

[Halbrook Family]

I have been getting a BU set of Nickels together for a couple of years now. It's just about complete`1938 to  2005 is about there. 2006 to is just started. I was looking for the blazing white nickels but after a few years a few of them have toned. 46d, 48, 48d, 51 and a couple of others. They still look good but do I have to replace them if I want the blazer set? How to stop others from toning? I've seen people try and charge more for a toned coin. Personally I'd rather not have it 

[J P M]

 You may have some coins that were dipped at one time or another or just where they are stored may be doing it. I would keep them as is just my thoughts. I have coins in holders that are toned and look very nice. I think some will continue to tone even in the holder. 

Edited November 25, 2023 by J P M

[Mike Meenderink]

You cannot stop the toning process even on an encapsulated coin. Raw coins of all types are also susceptible to toning, milk spots, sulphur eruptions etc.. at any time. The storage location and environment around the storage of your coins is very crucial. The average specific humidity, air quality and average temperature swings of your local area are responsible for this toning. Also the coins prior environmental conditions and/or prior deposited surface contaminants are interacting together as well now in the "new" environment you have them in. Its going to be a wild ride...hold on tight.

[Coinbuf]

Toing happens as a result of the conditions and contaminates that the coin has been exposed to in the past and the conditions it is exposed to now.   If you only want blast white coins then you have to be willing to spend the time and money on proper storage.   And even that is not a guarantee the coins will not tone to some degree.

If you live in a humid area or one that is prone to large swings in temperatures, you have to do more to combat those issues than say a collector like me that lives in a dry desert condition.   My suggestion is to buy and use the Intercept Shield storage products along with ample desiccant products that you replace as needed.   If your storage methods are not up to snuff you are likely to see many of your coins tone.   And even with the very best storage methods you cannot control what conditions or contaminates the coins you buy may have been subjected to in the past.

As to what to do with the coins you have that have now acquired some tone, well that is I personal choice.   You could sell them and buy untoned replacements, or simply live with some color on those coins.

[zadok]

On 11/25/2023 at 10:06 AM, Coinbuf said:

Toing happens as a result of the conditions and contaminates that the coin has been exposed to in the past and the conditions it is exposed to now.   If you only want blast white coins then you have to be willing to spend the time and money on proper storage.   And even that is not a guarantee the coins will not tone to some degree.

If you live in a humid area or one that is prone to large swings in temperatures, you have to do more to combat those issues than say a collector like me that lives in a dry desert condition.   My suggestion is to buy and use the Intercept Shield storage products along with ample desiccant products that you replace as needed.   If your storage methods are not up to snuff you are likely to see many of your coins tone.   And even with the very best storage methods you cannot control what conditions or contaminates the coins you buy may have been subjected to in the past.

As to what to do with the coins you have that have now acquired some tone, well that is I personal choice.   You could sell them and buy untoned replacements, or simply live with some color on those coins.

...or u could rent a box at the elon musk lunar safety n security box company but then bezos is going charge u $250K to visit ur coins every time...nother option is collect gold coins n not worry bout toning....

[Coinbuf]

On 11/25/2023 at 3:58 PM, zadok said:

...or u could rent a box at the elon musk lunar safety n security box company but then bezos is going charge u $250K to visit ur coins every time...nother option is collect gold coins n not worry bout toning....

Valid (tho pricy) option, another (also pricy) option would to build a clean room in your basement like Mr. Hanson has.    While a wonderful option for those that have the funds to, only collecting gold is not a guarantee against toning either; I have seen many a toned gold coin.

[dprince1138]

[zadok]

On 11/25/2023 at 6:23 PM, dprince1138 said:

...almost white....

[Coinbuf]

On 11/25/2023 at 4:25 PM, zadok said:

...almost white....

Far too nice a coin to be his anyway, just a photo he found on the web I'd guess.

[Halbrook Family]

here is a example of my nickels. hard to get it in photos 

[Halbrook Family]

[Halbrook Family]

[Halbrook Family]

are they still bu with the toning? Do people really pay for a toned coin? I see on ebay people trying to charge more for a toned coin

[Coinbuf]

On 11/26/2023 at 12:03 PM, edhalbrook said:

are they still bu with the toning? Do people really pay for a toned coin? I see on ebay people trying to charge more for a toned coin

Toning does not reduce the condition of a coin unless the tone has gone terminally black.   At that point the tone has bonded to the surface and begun to etch the surface.   But until that point toning is a matter of personal preference, in this current market toned coins are very much in vogue.    Fifteen-twenty years ago blast white was the must have for a large portion of the market.   No clue what will be in style twenty years from now, and yes for some types of toning there are people that will pay moon money and beyond just because of the toning.   The catch here is that many sellers will hype less than attractive toning to buyers that do not know what toning is worth a premium and which is not; many an ebay ad starts with "rainbow toning" to describe a total POS.

Edited November 26, 2023 by Coinbuf

[powermad5000]

I would pose this statement in regards to toning. Would you pay the "extra" money in order to have all blast white examples of your coins, only to have there be something you missed in either purchase, or storage and open your album or go view your slabs 20 years from now only to find some of them have toned? Would the extra spent then been only in vain as you find a couple darkened coins in the set? Would that make it now an imperfect set?

[Makes me think of if we will see a slab in 20 years with a "Sight White" sticker on it with a coin in the slab with dark spots on it]

While some may pay extra for toned coins, and I may not necessarily understand the mania involved in that, I have no ill will towards toning either. But I do agree there could be some very ugly forms/stages of toning that may make a coin unappealing to the eye. I also think some toning can be quite attractive. And I would rather own a coin with toning that has straight grading than a white coin with a details grade for cleaning.

I guess this is one of those things that is a matter of personal preference to you and one where you need to decide how you like your coins.

Edited November 26, 2023 by powermad5000

[Halbrook Family]

On 11/26/2023 at 11:23 AM, Coinbuf said:

Toning does not reduce the condition of a coin unless the tone has gone terminally black.   At that point the tone has bonded to the surface and begun to etch the surface.   But until that point toning is a matter of personal preference, in this current market toned coins are very much in vogue.    Fifteen-twenty years ago blast white was the must have for a large portion of the market.   No clue what will be in style twenty years from now, and yes for some types of toning there are people that will pay moon money and beyond just because of the toning.   The catch here is that many sellers will hype less than attractive toning to buyers that do not know what toning is worth a premium and which is not; many an ebay ad starts with "rainbow toning" to describe a total POS.

I saw a few like mine called by someone "petina". Personally I like the original color of them. 

[Halbrook Family]

I'd just like it to stay the original color

[Halbrook Family]

On 11/26/2023 at 2:02 PM, powermad5000 said:

I would pose this statement in regards to toning. Would you pay the "extra" money in order to have all blast white examples of your coins, only to have there be something you missed in either purchase, or storage and open your album or go view your slabs 20 years from now only to find some of them have toned? Would the extra spent then been only in vain as you find a couple darkened coins in the set? Would that make it now an imperfect set?

[Makes me think of if we will see a slab in 20 years with a "Sight White" sticker on it with a coin in the slab with dark spots on it]

While some may pay extra for toned coins, and I may not necessarily understand the mania involved in that, I have no ill will towards toning either. But I do agree there could be some very ugly forms/stages of toning that may make a coin unappealing to the eye. I also think some toning can be quite attractive. And I would rather own a coin with toning that has straight grading than a white coin with a details grade for cleaning.

I guess this is one of those things that is a matter of personal preference to you and one where you need to decide how you like your coins.

But some of the toning I have seen looks ridiculous. Like they did it somehow on purpose. The total rainbow ones. He is charging $8 for this when it's a $2 or $3 coin I think. 

[Coinbuf]

On 11/26/2023 at 5:46 PM, edhalbrook said:

But some of the toning I have seen looks ridiculous. Like they did it somehow on purpose. The total rainbow ones. He is charging $8 for this when it's a $2 or $3 coin I think. 

 

That iridescent blue/purple tone is not an unusual color for a proof from that time period kept in the original mint cello but just not stored well.   And that is the kind of color that some collectors will pay up for. 

[EagleRJO]

On 11/26/2023 at 7:46 PM, edhalbrook said:

But some of the toning I have seen looks ridiculous

I don't collect nickels, and typically go for either a bright silver color or what some may consider more of a bland old coin like appearance which to me is more "natural".  But I actually really like that nickel.  

[J P M]

On 11/26/2023 at 7:39 PM, edhalbrook said:

I'd just like it to stay the original color

You have a good looking collection. I have many toned nickels that I picked up trying to complete my registry set. Some are nice some are not so nice. I do not look for toned coins. I mostly look for low priced MS66 coins some just happened to be toned. You can always keep an eye out for replacement coins after your set is compleat. That is what most of us do. 

[powermad5000]

On 11/26/2023 at 6:46 PM, edhalbrook said:

But some of the toning I have seen looks ridiculous. Like they did it somehow on purpose. The total rainbow ones.

Keep in mind with toning being popular amongst a niche of collectors, that there is such a thing as artificial toning. It can be difficult to detect, but one clue is that a coin of a particular series is toned unlike the many similar toned examples of the same coins. I would be somewhat suspicious of a nickel with full rainbow toning as most turn just one color or maybe two with a slightly different color around the rim (maybe more reddish) and the rest of the coin a typical bluish or grayish or blackish color. On Morgan dollars, however, there are many that tone in a full rainbow of colors and that is natural for some Morgans in that series.

[VKurtB]

On 11/26/2023 at 6:46 PM, edhalbrook said:

But some of the toning I have seen looks ridiculous. Like they did it somehow on purpose. The total rainbow ones. He is charging $8 for this when it's a $2 or $3 coin I think. 

The deep blue is more normal on 1962 proofs. The 1961 proof nickels mostly go yellow to greenish. 

[Halbrook Family]

On 11/27/2023 at 8:58 PM, VKurtB said:

The deep blue is more normal on 1962 proofs. The 1961 proof nickels mostly go yellow to greenish. 

Is the color of my nickels pretty much the normal tone for those years? A redish brown. 

I guess it is a normal toning color. Here is one like mine. Not sure I'd get a MS67* though

[Halbrook Family]

This one looks awful. Can you still call this bu? Looks like finger prints and the dark spots will just get bigger I assume. The second coin here just looks like rust. 

[powermad5000]

The first two seem to be normal toning. The last one seems to be environmentally damaged due to improper storage or lack thereof.

In another thread I attempted unsuccessfully to try to explain to the forum nuisance that blast white and grade do not necessarily go hand in hand. He thought that anything above MS 65 should be cartwheel or blast white and I stated that was simply not true. Being this post is more apropos for the subject, I saved these pics for this topic in specific. Higher graded coins can still have full toning. The thing to also know is that certain toning can hide imperfections. I have a Morgan that looks like it got some black spray paint overspray on part of it (it isn't spray paint but the way it is toning) so I sent it to NCS for conservation to have that removed. I was only charged the $5 inspection fee and it was returned in the same slab because they specifically stated it was not a candidate for conservation and to proceed with conservation would cause the grade to go down. I got it cheap due to eye appeal reasons but it is still an MS 64 as it sits so my "overspray Morgan" stays as is.

[Halbrook Family]

Jeez that dime looks horrible. Did it look like that when it got graded? 

[Halbrook Family]

I'm trying to get together the best set of nickels I possibly can that are ungraded. Looking at NGC auction central there is Jefferson nickels going for some good money. Can one get a whole set graded? I would assume that would cost a absolute fortune.

  Also want the most complete set as well. The 2005 - 2010 nickels are satin finish from the uncirculated sets. I was thinking on getting those years from OBW rolls. I saw someone point out a penny variants web site. Is there one for the nickel?  

[JKK]

On 11/30/2023 at 5:57 AM, edhalbrook said:

Jeez that dime looks horrible. Did it look like that when it got graded? 

Eye of the beholder, and I expect it probably did. I think it looks beautiful and natural--but I long passed the stage where the goal was bright and shiny. Too much of that is cleaned. Give me a naturally toned patina on an otherwise fully clean, original surface any day.

There's nothing wrong with you preferring them untoned--and you will save some money over the years by not overpaying for coins baked in potatoes--but you should reasonably expect to find yourself in a minority.

[Halbrook Family]

On 12/2/2023 at 9:05 AM, JKK said:

Eye of the beholder, and I expect it probably did. I think it looks beautiful and natural--but I long passed the stage where the goal was bright and shiny. Too much of that is cleaned. Give me a naturally toned patina on an otherwise fully clean, original surface any day.

There's nothing wrong with you preferring them untoned--and you will save some money over the years by not overpaying for coins baked in potatoes--but you should reasonably expect to find yourself in a minority.

I'm getting used to the toned nickels in my books. They look like so many others I have seen. I'll stock with what I got and try and add the odd ball ones to the collection. Thinking on maybe getting some variants to add to it. I don't really do variants at all though. Need to learn more there. Is there only two W nickels?