Four somewhat toned dollars from a shoebox hoard of coins

[James_OldeTowne]

I picked up a hoard of coins that an older couple had been accumulating. Unfortunately, it was the typical grouping of coins that nobody wants or collects, for the most part, and all stored in an ancient, crumbling, musty cardboard shoebox. You know the drill - a couple of oddball Frankies, 40% Kennedys, regular 1965 clad dimes and quarters, dull Jefferson nickels from the 1940s and 50s, a few junk wheats, Bicentennial coins, and of course, the ubiquitous handful of 1979 SBAs - the usual stuff that uninformed folks squirrel away. I basically paid just a tad over face (there was a smattering of silver), just to save them the effort of carrying 20 lbs of loose change to the bank.

 

Included were 57 Eisenhower dollars, mostly loose or flimsily wrapped in tissue paper. I picked through them, and they are nothing special at all, but just to show SOMEthing for my efforts, I've imaged the four most interesting Ikes here. If these are the "best" coins, you can just imagine how awful the rest of the hoard is! I'll be hauling the rest of this junk to the bank today .

 

Your opinions are welcome.

 

[texasrichard]

Well................ Nice Pictures !

[rbrown4]

Agree, nice pictures of these four coins. Better on here than in a shoebox, nice tones.

[cpm9ball]

Very typical and valuable hoard, James! I do like the toning though. They must have been kept in a Chuck Taylor Converse All-Stars shoe box, because coins stored in Thom McAn boxes don't tone as nicely.

 

Chris

[WinstonWare]

I actually like them. Ikes rarely have much character. These are a nice find

[Wihlborg]

You're such a nice young man James. Do you also help old people cross the street?

 

John

[Stanley]

[Fergie]

[EZ_E]

 

Where's the bubble gum tangent section?

 

I actually expected to see some Seated Liberty Dollars.

[braddick]

will NGC designate and label these as the ShoeBox hoard?

If so, I see a bright feature for these Ikes, on ebay, soon.

[cpm9ball]

will NGC designate and label these as the ShoeBox hoard?

If so, I see a bright feature for these Ikes, on ebay, soon.

 

No, but SEGS probably will and they will be worth far, far more as a result...................MS68/69!

 

Chris

[Phoenix21-migration]

Well, not a bad hoard. Better than nothing, .

 

Phoenix

[WoodenJefferson]

Well, I'm not an Ike collector per-say, I have a few of the 72's in types and some clad & silver for 76...but these can grow on you, especially ones that have something going on where Ike's bulbous head is no longer the focal point.

 

I was wondering, do these Ikes smell of Ben-Gay? If so, there might be a link between the geriatric and numismatic communities that somehow created those colors?

 

Kinda neat...hope your not turning those 4 into the bank?

[MikeInFL]

Who said Ike couldn't be beautiful?

 

Very nice pictures of a set of gorgeous Ikes. Finding attractively toned clad Ikes is much harder than most realize.

 

Thanks for sharing...Mike

[SkyMan]

Those are quite nice for natural Ikes.

[SkyMan]

These Ikes appealed to me, so I contacted James and for a whopping big price of $15 bought 'em.

 

I just got them yesterday, and was quite intrigued by their toning. It is much more vibrant than the images make it appear. If I didn't know the story behind the coins I would swear that it is AT toning, but that seems highly unlikely given the circumstances surrounding the coins. The coins, for what they are (BTW James, from what little I know about Ikes, I'd call them AU58), are attractive and fun. I sent James a pm and he responded. Here are bits and pieces of the pms.

 

 

 

 

"James,

 

I just got the Ikes. I don't know Ikes from a hole in the ground, but if I didn't know that they came from a bunch of junk hoard put back for X years, I would swear that they are AT'd. Did you find them in a box or what?..."

 

 

 

"Hi Sy. What you've observed is exactly the reason why I posted the coins. Al the other coins were your standard greyish or silvery-grey, but those four were exposed either to the edge of the shoebox, or exposed to the globs of tissue paper that the owners had stuffed into the box to cushion some of the coins.

 

In other words, what makes toning artificial? Can coins be in a perfectly natural-seeming environment, yet still get artificially toned? For that matter, is a shoebox even a natural environment?

 

We are all aware of stories of perfectly natural coins that sat in an album for decades and developed attractive colors, only to be rejected by a grading service as "artificial", and we are also all aware of coins that were doctored in the chemical lab, but that got certified as being perfectly market-acceptable.

 

I don't know if the Ikes are artifiical or not. All I know is where they came from, and it is unlikely in the extreme that the previous owner(s) were interested in ATing them.

 

I agree completely with your assessment, and that's why I thought they would make a compelling discussion ..."

 

 

 

 

 

For $14 (I'm spending that fourth one) they are a fun purchase... one of the kind of things that makes this hobby great... something inexpensive, attractive and kind of puzzling.

 

As I mentioned above, the colors are vibrant enough, particularly since we're talking clad coinage, that if I just saw them out of context I'd swear they were AT. Yet given the context, by MY definition of NT (coins are not deliberately assisted by chemicals and/or heat to rapidly tone in a short period of time) they are NT.

 

So, what would you say they are AT or NT or what?

[MikeKing]

Sometimes NT can be mistaken for AT.

 

Those are beautiful IKES, I especially like the second and the last ones pitcured. Lovely coins.

[Dcoin]

Maybe what sets AT from NT is the time it takes for the coins to react. After all isn’t 30+ years in a mint canvas bag the same as 6 months in Taco Bell napkin? Only difference is the time and intention.

[James_OldeTowne]

The coins, for what they are (BTW James, from what little I know about Ikes, I'd call them AU58), are attractive and fun.

Sy, thanks for posting the follow-up, per our PM conversation! As I recall (and remembering also from the images), there was one coin that most likely is a slider, and I should have graded them a bit more carefully, but I did think the others were UNC. Of course, I believe the source collector did in fact pull them from circulation, so it may be an issue of whether or not a coin from circulation can ever be "UNcirculated" .

 

As I was going through the box, one of the coins reminded me very much of Bruce's "Taco Napkin" coin, so much so that I'm sure it has to be the same chemical effect, though just on a smaller scale. Based on Bruce's images of the Taco coin, I think his was quite a bit more vibrant. The other three coins I though were somewhat milder in appearance, and I thought the images were fairly accurate.

 

But I enjoy getting the benefit of a second opinion! I look forward to other board member responses, now that the coins have had a second set of eyes to look at them!

 

Incidentally, I've already disposed of the balance of the shoebox coin hoard. Ended up taking them to the bank, where I discovered they will count and roll your change for free .

[CarolinaCollector]

I like Ikes - at least this group of 4. The toning is very attractive.