Colorful Toning 101
Sunnywood
Posts: 2,683 ✭
This post appeared in an Amanda thread on AT vs. NT ... I am giving it a thread of its own, as I thought some folks might enjoy it who missed it the first time:
There are coins that are unquestionably naturally toned. There are several perfect examples of natural toning, which also provide us with a key to understanding the process of toning formation. One of these is the classic banded rainbow toning that is found on some Morgan dollars that were stored undisturbed in the original Mint bags for decades in bank vaults. The very slow process of toning formation that occurred in an undisturbed environment, with very little change or movement in the ambient atmosphere, created uniform toning layers of increasing depth across the exposed surfaces of coins that were sitting on top of the "pile" within the bag. The toning formed in such a way as to neatly demonstrate the naturally occurring color progression that is associated with thin film toning, which produces colorful hues based on refraction of light. These coins provide us a roadmap or blueprint to understand which colors should normally be adjacent to which other colors in a naturally toned coin. (There are many exceptions, of course, but this is a valuable first step toward understanding toning.) Follow the colors from the "white" untoned portion of the coin through the various bands, and notice that on each coin the progression is essentially the same, although the relative strengths and widths of different color bands varies. These are unquestionably naturally toned coins ...
Here are a few additional illustrated comments, all based on the above notion of the standard thin-film color progression:
a) Most toning is in the first few bands, which correspond to the thinnest toning layers, formed in the shortest time. This is the familiar light gold toning, which then intensifies to deeper gold, to amber, and to russet, and then onto the next color band, which is blue. This is why lightly toned coins are generally in the gold russet family, and often album-toned coins will have light gold, deepening to russet at the perimeter, with bits of electric blue at the perimeter. Here are a couple of examples:
b) Album-toned coins form the same colors, generally progressing from the center of the coin outwards, as the heaviest toning occurred closest to the album material at the perimeter. Notice how the toning on the 1883 below goes past the blue band, and into some lighter greenish-yellow at the perimeter. Compare that with the rainbow examples above, and you will see how that is the correct next color to be expected at the perimeter. (Contrast with the 1894-O above which does not get past the blue band.) Then look at the 1882 below right, which goes past the greenish-yellow and into orange-red at the lower right perimeter. Had it stayed longer in the album, the progression would have continued. These colors are definitely signs of natural toning.
c) Not all examples show the full progression. Notice in the rainbow examples at the top of this post, the first band is very thin, whereas below left, the first band is expanded into a tan area. You can also have a coin that is uniformly toned (monochromatic) in any one color, if the toning conditions were just right.
d) You might also have a coin that shows colors from two or three of the adjacent bands in the progression. Many of the best Battle Creek coins had brilliant vibrant red, yellow and green toning. This corresponds to three adjacent bands (see rainbow examples above). The toning conditions had to be "just right" with decades of undisturbed storage to result in the entire surface of the coin toned in those colors.
e) The bands may not always be "stripes" but could also be patches (large, or very small). The coin on the left has large patches caused by end-roll toning (the coin spent years at the end of a paper roll with the roll paper folded over on the ends to cause a geometric pattern; this is an extraordinary end-roller with unusually colorful and vibrant toning). The coin on the right has "micro patches" or mottled colors of the same red-yellow-green. Incredibly, this is an 1896-S Morgan. (Its reverse has a more classic album-toned appearance with a blue perimeter.)
There are many more "fine points" that become apparent after you look at hundreds of toned coins. I could go on and on ... but the principles that are demonstrated by the classic banded rainbow-toned Morgans at the top of the thread lay the groundwork for understanding all the rest.
Best,
Sunnywood
Edited December 30, 2007 to update links to images.
There are coins that are unquestionably naturally toned. There are several perfect examples of natural toning, which also provide us with a key to understanding the process of toning formation. One of these is the classic banded rainbow toning that is found on some Morgan dollars that were stored undisturbed in the original Mint bags for decades in bank vaults. The very slow process of toning formation that occurred in an undisturbed environment, with very little change or movement in the ambient atmosphere, created uniform toning layers of increasing depth across the exposed surfaces of coins that were sitting on top of the "pile" within the bag. The toning formed in such a way as to neatly demonstrate the naturally occurring color progression that is associated with thin film toning, which produces colorful hues based on refraction of light. These coins provide us a roadmap or blueprint to understand which colors should normally be adjacent to which other colors in a naturally toned coin. (There are many exceptions, of course, but this is a valuable first step toward understanding toning.) Follow the colors from the "white" untoned portion of the coin through the various bands, and notice that on each coin the progression is essentially the same, although the relative strengths and widths of different color bands varies. These are unquestionably naturally toned coins ...
Here are a few additional illustrated comments, all based on the above notion of the standard thin-film color progression:
a) Most toning is in the first few bands, which correspond to the thinnest toning layers, formed in the shortest time. This is the familiar light gold toning, which then intensifies to deeper gold, to amber, and to russet, and then onto the next color band, which is blue. This is why lightly toned coins are generally in the gold russet family, and often album-toned coins will have light gold, deepening to russet at the perimeter, with bits of electric blue at the perimeter. Here are a couple of examples:
b) Album-toned coins form the same colors, generally progressing from the center of the coin outwards, as the heaviest toning occurred closest to the album material at the perimeter. Notice how the toning on the 1883 below goes past the blue band, and into some lighter greenish-yellow at the perimeter. Compare that with the rainbow examples above, and you will see how that is the correct next color to be expected at the perimeter. (Contrast with the 1894-O above which does not get past the blue band.) Then look at the 1882 below right, which goes past the greenish-yellow and into orange-red at the lower right perimeter. Had it stayed longer in the album, the progression would have continued. These colors are definitely signs of natural toning.
c) Not all examples show the full progression. Notice in the rainbow examples at the top of this post, the first band is very thin, whereas below left, the first band is expanded into a tan area. You can also have a coin that is uniformly toned (monochromatic) in any one color, if the toning conditions were just right.
d) You might also have a coin that shows colors from two or three of the adjacent bands in the progression. Many of the best Battle Creek coins had brilliant vibrant red, yellow and green toning. This corresponds to three adjacent bands (see rainbow examples above). The toning conditions had to be "just right" with decades of undisturbed storage to result in the entire surface of the coin toned in those colors.
e) The bands may not always be "stripes" but could also be patches (large, or very small). The coin on the left has large patches caused by end-roll toning (the coin spent years at the end of a paper roll with the roll paper folded over on the ends to cause a geometric pattern; this is an extraordinary end-roller with unusually colorful and vibrant toning). The coin on the right has "micro patches" or mottled colors of the same red-yellow-green. Incredibly, this is an 1896-S Morgan. (Its reverse has a more classic album-toned appearance with a blue perimeter.)
There are many more "fine points" that become apparent after you look at hundreds of toned coins. I could go on and on ... but the principles that are demonstrated by the classic banded rainbow-toned Morgans at the top of the thread lay the groundwork for understanding all the rest.
Best,
Sunnywood
Edited December 30, 2007 to update links to images.
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It deserved its own thread.
-Amanda
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Tbig
Does somebody have a link to the "toning rainbow progression" image (not a coin) posted here before? It would be useful to have in this thread.
Here's a bonus post: notice how in the color progression image shown above, the colors begin to cycle after you reach a certain point ... it is quite rare to find toning so well developed on a coin that it exhibits that cycling ... however, here is an extraordinary example of exactly that phenomenon:
Once you realize what you're seeing on this coin, and how rare it is to see the cycling bands played out in the toning just as science predicts, then you will understand why this coin was worth a high premium.
My task has been to find coins like this with exceptional color on the obverse, but which are also of gem quality underlying the toning. Combine that with the search for a complete date set, and you can begin to appreciate to challenge I have undertaken with the "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" collection of toned Morgans !! Of course, I love to find beautiful color on gem type coins as well, not just the Morgans. But because Morgans are so numerous, and many spent decades in undisturbed storage, there are more spectacular toning treasures to be found among them. And because the toning formed slowly over decades, you get more of the amazing banded rainbow coins that display the color progression clearly.
Incidentally, this is why a collection like "Battle Creek" was of such interest to toning enthusiasts, with its great diversity of vividly toned pieces. Nature is always a more skilled, more imaginative, and more creative artist than we are. Unfortunately, Battle Creek could only contribute a few coins to my set, since the whole "Battle Creek" deal only included four dates, and I need all the others too !! Once you are hooked on the beauty and fascination of toning, then you can appreciate why some of us chase these coins at substantial premiums. However, I still believe the underlying coin should matter too, so I like to hunt for color within the context of gem technical quality and better dates.
Best,
Sunnywood
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Thank you for doing the work to get this thread going.
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~Wayne
So whats up ???.............................no 21 morgans of color to post??
Herb
<< <i>Thanks for yet another great post from a great poster. >>
You and a few others set the standard for sharing valuable information here.
Commems and Early Type
<< <i>Excellent post, and gorgeous coins. >>
Okay......thanx, now I know to to spell gorgous...............
Herb
-Mark Twain
You were showing a toner w/cycling albeit it seems that the whole coin itself has an almost golden tone to it. Where does the cycling toning apply to an almost frost white coin? Is this an indicator of AT? Here is one example of several that I have:
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