How to best naturally tone coins?

CentSearcher

I'm a toned Lincoln cent collector, and I've been thinking about setting aside a few higher grade wheat cents and proof memorial cents to let them naturally tone over time. Do any of you know what the best way to do this is? I'm mainly hoping to get BN toners.

Do Raymond coin albums work well? How about manila envelopes? I have a bunch of these envelopes for coins (picture down below), do you think they will work well too?

CentSearcher

By the way, I am aware it's going to take a very long time no matter what storage I use

jt88

it might take 30 years to toned.

lkeigwin

Original Wayte Raymond albums are pretty old. Like Kraft envelopes the sulfur used in their manufacture has probably waned to the point where it is not very effective today.

Modern stationery is free of sulfer. There isn't much benefit there.

Sunny-window-sill toning may be your best bet. Use paper holders to prevent anything from settling on the coins. Flip them every few weeks.

Be prepared for disappointment. Copper is very reactive and some spotting or uneven toning is likely.

Depending on your climate and environment it may take many months or years for noticeable changes.
Lance.

ChrisH821

I am not sure about the best "natural" way to tone them

As a toned Lincoln collector, what is your opinion on this one? PCGS gave it the QC.
https://www.pcgs.com/cert/40893016
It's not quite as bright as the TV makes it seem

Jzyskowski1

The explore and discover set from a couple years back seems to produce a toning.

thefinn

The problem is that you don’t know what the outcome will be for quite a while, and you can’t go back.

PerryHall

In some past threads it was suggested that wrapping coins in Taco Bell napkins will cause them to tone over time. I would imagine a brown paper grocery bag would have the same effect over time. Place them in a warm humid environment such as on top of a hot water heater or in your attic during the summer and don't forget to inspect them every couple of months. Please share the results of your natural toning experiment.

DoubleEagle59

Nothing comes close to the Raymond album pages......takes time but perfection is worth waiting for.

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johnny9434

Your reading on some of the ways it might get done. I'm sure there will more posted

ricko

If your coins 'accidently' come into proximity with a crushed, hard boiled egg yolk, they will tarnish quickly... Just joking.... That is a natural method, but what one would call 'assisted' or 'accelerated' tarnish. Good luck... Cheers, RickO

CentSearcher

@lkeigwin
I won't be using any super expensive or rare coins, so I'm fine with taking the risk. My house is surrounded my trees, so I don't exactly have a good window to put it at. I do have a pet that has a heat lamp, do you think that putting it close to it would work?

@ChrisH821
I'm not the best at telling AT from NT, but to me the reverse looks fine. The obverse is kind of sketchy, you should post it in another thread asking if anybody thinks it should be resubmitted or not.

@Jzyskowski1
That's cool, I might look into getting one to see if it will tone in the right conditions.

@thefinn
I'm prepared for the wait. None of the cents I will be using are super valuable, so I won't need them back quickly

@PerryHall
Really? That's funny, I'll have to stop by a Taco Bell to try this out. I have a pet lizard that uses a 100 watt heat lamp, would putting the cents close to the lamp work?

@DoubleEagle59
I figured so, I'll probably buy one or two pages to put some cents in. Thanks for the input!

CentSearcher

@ricko
Haha, I actually tried this a year ago just for fun on a few BU memorial cents. It was definitely artificial toning, but it did work quickly, and they looked pretty cool

jmlanzaf

I'm LOL at this unnatural natural toning.

Let me rephrase the question chemically: what is the best artificial source of sulfur to induce market acceptable artificial toning?

Catbert

I’m fighting my revulsion at this idea, but that’s because I’m an old fuddy duddy!

vulcanize

@PerryHall said:
In some past threads it was suggested that wrapping coins in Taco Bell napkins will cause them to tone over time. I would imagine a brown paper grocery bag would have the same effect over time. Place them in a warm humid environment such as on top of a hot water heater or in your attic during the summer and don't forget to inspect them every couple of months. Please share the results of your natural toning experiment.

or leave them in a cup of municipal/city tap water perhaps

Walkerguy21D

I don't have experience with toned Lincoln cents, but I have coins that have toned over many in years in both Dansco and Whitman bookshelf albums.
What I do note is that coins in adjacent 'holes' in the same environment may or may not tone similarly to their neighbor coins. I think this is due to the surfaces of the coins when stored. Some may have been dipped, had grease on them, fingerprints, or who knows what, that affected if they toned, and how they toned.

What I'm suggesting is that perhaps you give yours a brief acetone soak, to neutralize/dissolve any surface contaminants, prior to your test. At a minimum, this could prevent any unpleasant surprises, like finding a pronounced fingerprint, several years into it.

Question for the forum - would the pre- 1982 cents tone differently than the later cents, since the composition was changed?

Jzyskowski1

The explore and discover sets I’ve seen on eBay had the same toning. These were available from the mint . ( still are)Don’t know about the ones from the mint but the eBay offerings are toned, my couple sets toned , I would think they are toning at the mint warehouse 👍🏼

Oldhoopster

I have used the craft paper 2x2 on a sunny window sill on both copper and silver and the results have been all over the place.

I really think the results are dependent on the condition of the post cleaned surfaces. Harshly cleaned/polished coins that appear to have been recently cleaned seem to be the worst. Older, more moderately cleaned/dipped usually tone more consistently

Just some of my observations.

CentSearcher

@jmlanzaf
Well said!

@Oldhoopster
Sounds like a good idea. I have plenty of 2x2 craft paper envelopes, so I'll probably put a few in them and set them on the window sill

PerryHall

If you are going to try to tone your coins, it may be a good idea to clean them with acetone to remove any fingerprints or any other surface oils from handling.

OldEastside

Time and patience

Steve

fathom

Just curious.... at what point does knowingly accelerate toning become coin doctoring?

2 years...4....8...10?

At some point this discussion (because the TPGs have a difficult time with questionable color) becomes a matter of aesthetics.

Or the coin market term "market acceptability".

Point is that colorful coins are pleasing to the eye, but don't get carried away with values IMO.

nwcoast

I’ve placed harshly polished coins, or over dipped Ebay lemons onto a East or south facing wooden windowsill and had them start to turn golden in a matter of months. Artificial? Maybe…. We could debate that all day long. I’m eventually going to part with them and will honestly divulge that they were cleaned and retoned. The previous harsh cleaning of those coins I put on the window sill sure wasn’t “natural” either. Decent photos and knowledge would catch that though I didn’t early on when I bought them.
I think they look a little better now with that toned over color than when they were shiny slick white.
The previous harsh cleaning of those coins I put on the window sill sure wasn’t “natural” either.

I have some silver coins that I inherited that had been kept in an old paper envelope for years. Some of them toned very nicely. That wasn’t planned or calculated- just happenstance.

Currently my Dansco album IS toning the edges of all my nice Peace dollars too- to the point that it’s starting to bother and worry me.
It’s not all black and white, right or wrong. It’s a slippery slope and the line in the sand is moving.

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davewesen

I probably don't have 30 years to wait. I like to buy them already toned in albums and after market holders. I have found some rather nice ones that way.

Onastone

What actually causes toning? Is it the sun hitting the coin day after day sitting on a windowsill? Is it environmental- moisture & humidity exposure? Reaction to other elements- magnetic/ metallic/ sulphuric? A cardboard holder? An old paper folder?
Temperature changes? It all comes down to storage...how do you keep your coins blast white or monster rainbow toned? Or perhaps it really depends on each coins makeup- it's DNA. (I know coins don't have DNA, but their elemental makeup) Is that part of what causes those unsightly milk spots?

crazyhounddog

Maybe ask the guy that has this one listed on eBay. Evidently he has it down to a science.