What does recolored mean when dealing with cents and how would you know if you had one?

Cul8r

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joeykoins

Hi and Welcome aboard. Now, I heard of "repunched, re-engraved". Never heard of recolored. Also , heard of "alternated color". But recolored, ah no.

coinbuf

Recolored cents are just something that you learn to recognize after you see a few, usually its an unnatural sheen rather than the correct cartwheel luster. If you have one your concerned about you can post a photo of each side for comments.

Walkerguy21D

@jmlanzaf said:

Anyone who perfected re-coloring could make a fortune on large cents.

This one was a mellowed brick red when I started on it about 8 years ago. It had been in an old National coin album since the early 60's, when I acquired along with the majority of the set (which thankfully were NOT likewise cleaned). It's approaching 'market acceptable', in my opinion.

Walkerguy21D

Here is a large cent blatantly 'recolored'. I bought it when I was young and foolish (rather than old and foolish, like now....). But it still has eye appeal. There is considerably more gun metal blue on the coin, and pinkish-red around the devices, than the photos show:

keets

I have always known "recolored" to mean the same as what PerryHall posted. the thing about using Dellar's Darkener is twofold: if left on a Copper/Bronze coin long enough it will turn black ---and--- it can be virtually impossible to remove it totally from around lettering and in fine design detail. if you have a coin that you suspect as being "recolored" you can use a loupe and look at the lettering which would show the un-removed Dellar's pooled where the letters meet the field.

291fifth

@jmlanzaf said:

@joeykoins said:
Can my proof Lincoln Cent be that example? I can't believe they gave me a PF. 64 BN?

No. It would have been in a details holder or body-bagged.

I can see the 64 grade. It does have lines in the fields on the reverse and what look like a couple contact marks on the bust. I would have guessed 65, honestly, but I can see 64.

The trace fingerprint on the obverse probably killed its chance of getting a 65.

bolivarshagnasty

I remember a Dealer from Atlanta who had a case of "pink" Indians and Lincolns in mylar flips. Never understood how he was able to buy a table at shows. No one dealt with him.

Catbert

I have always associated the term recolored with early copper surface alterations.

Mr_Spud

I didn’t read the other responses, but when I hear recolored copper I think of a cleaned copper coin that turned pinkish and then someone tried to make the cleaning less obvious by using something like Dellers Darkener. https://www.collectons.com/shop/item/2656/Deller-s-Darkener-for-Cleaned-Copper-Coins

It’s some kind of sulfur compound that turns cleaned copper pink looking coins into brownish copper coins

7Jaguars

There are apparently some masters at doctoring color & will report that a nationally known dealer used to have rows of GRADED recolored and unnatural appearing coins - no names mentioned - and have seen quite a few slabbed examples that look worse than some of the boddybagged specimens that I have seen. Wish I had the pictures now....

oih82w8

Here is a thread from yesteryear on this subject;

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/548966/quot-recolored-quot-copper-coins

bsshog40

Recolored can also mean patina, toning, environmental damage and/or age related. And then there is AT.

pursuitofliberty

My understanding is this term is typically this term is used when an early copper was dipped or preserved in a way which caused an unnatural red color, and then through different forms, was knowingly allowed or assisted to tone in an effort to look as natural as possible.

It is, in effect, the same as AT (artificial toning), but I think due to the fact so many cents were preserved in ways that removed or altered the natural color of copper and it's regular oxidation, and then re-toned over time in envelopes or albums or though other somewhat natural means, the connotation is a little different.

Kind of like so many things that are hard to explain, if you study early copper, you know it when you see it.

joeykoins

Can my proof Lincoln Cent be that example? I can't believe they gave me a PF. 64 BN?

abcde12345

NGC considers recolored cents as altered color:

blaircountycoin

I have heard of recolored! I just got 2 back from ANACS, both 1972 Double Die #1 and marked recolored.

lkeigwin

Copper is really difficult to mess with and have it appear unaltered. The usual methods -- MS70 or eZest yield unnatural color. "Juicing" (with citric acid) also looks off.

The 1919 above does not look doctored to me but a better view might change my mind.

A lot of collectors are suspicious about any 100 year old red cent. It often comes down to storage. I have rolls of 60 year old cents that look as red and bright as they day they were minted. If 60, why not 100?
Lance.

abcde12345

@lkeigwin said:
Copper is really difficult to mess with and have it appear unaltered—the usual methods -- MS70 or eZest yield unnatural color. "Juicing" (with citric acid) also looks off.

1919 above does not look doctored to me, but a better view might change my mind.

A lot of collectors are suspicious about any 100-year-old red cent. It often comes down to storage. I have rolls of 60-year-old cents that look as red and bright as the day they were minted. If 60, why not 100?
Lance.

Better photos:

jmlanzaf

@joeykoins said:
Can my proof Lincoln Cent be that example? I can't believe they gave me a PF. 64 BN?

No. It would have been in a details holder or body-bagged.

I can see the 64 grade. It does have lines in the fields on the reverse and what look like a couple contact marks on the bust. I would have guessed 65, honestly, but I can see 64.

jmlanzaf

@abcde12345 said:

@lkeigwin said:
Copper is really difficult to mess with and have it appear unaltered—the usual methods -- MS70 or eZest yield unnatural color. "Juicing" (with citric acid) also looks off.

1919 above does not look doctored to me, but a better view might change my mind.

A lot of collectors are suspicious about any 100-year-old red cent. It often comes down to storage. I have rolls of 60-year-old cents that look as red and bright as the day they were minted. If 60, why not 100?
Lance.

Better photos:

A pretty nice job of recoloring. It's hard to recolor "red", easier to recolor "Red-brown".

The hardest part, I think, is stripping the toning off before you recolor it so it doesn't have that surface issue when re-colored.

I played around with this for a few days about 20 years ago. I had bought an AU large cent that someone had dipped in lemon juice. It was a pretty nice coin on details, but the color was off, obviously. I originally wanted to try to tone it "red" just to see if I could do it, but I couldn't. I could get various degrees of red-brown but the coin was so stripped it still looked off. I finally just toned it brown and sold it as "re-colored". I don't think I have any photos around, but it looked 1000% better brown than the bright white from the stripping.

Anyone who perfected re-coloring could make a fortune on large cents.

PerryHall

When brown copper coins have been dipped, they have an unnatural pink color. Collectors would use a product called Deller's Darkener to retone these coins to give them a more natural brown color. It's basically petroleum jelly with liver of sulfur mixed in.