My 38-90 Jefferson (Somewhat Toned) Nickel Album
OAKSTAR
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I recently pulled out my 7113 Jefferson Dansco, to post pics of my war nickels on another thread.
I'm basically an album guy. I've never been a big fan of toned coins. Fortunately or unfortunately, we all know there are some beautiful toned, patina or tarnished coins out there (positive or negative words when it comes to coins, not sure). Toned coins always struck me as being mother-natures way of saying she's taking them back. Plus, the AT/QT or NT/MA thing always seemed to throw a wrench into the pleasure of collecting for me.
However, lately (the past 30 years) I've been forced into the toning world and have accepted it for this album. I've had this set for many years. Every time I look at it (I take it out of storage every 4 or 5 years), it looks better to me!
Unlike my other silver albums; Merc, Roosevelt, Washington, Franklin, Walker and Morgan, the coins in this set have dramatically changed over time on their own. If I knew this was going to happen, I would have taken before and after pictures.
It must be the metal nickel composition of these coin in general. Non of the other albums have turned as dramatically as this one has. All the albums are stored in the same place, in the same conditions.
The majority of these coins have changed, others haven't. They say the cardboard and plastic may give off fumes that could effect the coins.......who knows?
I've always been conscious of the environmental storage of my coins. No dramatic swings in temperature or humidity, always consistent room temperature. However, to be extra safe I stored them in ziploc bags with these silica dry packs. Do silica dry packs give off harmful fumes as well?......again, who knows?
So the question is: Have you noticed any of your raw nickels (or even slabbed ones) turning colors/toning over the years?.... Let's see them. Not ones you have already purchased toned. Any before and after pictures?......If so, post what you have and your opinions.
@Crypto said: those alloy nickels have a wide range of looks but you just can’t beat and UNC.
Not the best pictures but I think you'll see what I'm talking about.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Comments
Love it!
Yeah, my Dansco BU Jefferson Album is also toning up the coins. Mine aren’t quite as toned as yours yet though. I also have 2 more BU Jefferson sets in Wayte Raymond Albums, one in the large size album and the other in the small size album. The ones in the Wayte Raymond Albums are toning up too, but the toning looks different than the ones toning up in the Dansco.
Nickels tone very easily, being that they are so high in copper content. Back when I did a bunch of AT experiments for educational purposes about 20 years ago, nickels were my favorite type of coin to experiment on.
Here’s some of my old pictures from my AT experiments
This is same coin with picture taken every few seconds during the AT process to show the progression of colors as the thin film grows thicker
And here are a few AT nickels made with different chemicals
Mr_Spud
Mr Spud, those would go for big bucks on eBay.
I have a completed Dansco album of Jefferson Nickels. About 90% was completed about 15 years ago with the rest completed just last year. So far I haven't noticed any further toning on top of anything toned I already put in there, but I'll bump this thread in 15 years for an update.
Maybe, but I’m not interested in doing that. But yeah, there’s a lot of bad AT junk on eBay all the time that look worse than these.
Mr_Spud
Love it when there's more toners, I like 👍
Now I'm wondering if those silica dry packs have something to do with the toning.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
My dansco album of 38-2002 has no major toning at all. Coins been in the album for say 20 years or so.
Wish mine had toned like yours. Lol
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Wish I knew what it was, something is going on. It's gotta be the alloy of the nickel. All the other silver albums kept in the same place have been Blast White for years.
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
Here’s a couple quick pics of my Dansco. The nickels were blast white when I started putting them in there about 20 years ago. I’ve been using the corrosion inhibiting slipcover the whole time. My house is in high humidity area, close to the beach. For many years, the album was in Tupperware with desiccant cartridges.
Mr_Spud
Regarding desiccant packets, once they are saturated they maintain a much higher humidity then when they are fresh or recharged by heating them to drive off the moisture. If exposed to relative humidity over 40%, paper, cardboard, bookshelfs etc. start to outgas a little, then if exposed to even higher humidity the more they outgas. It’s too easy to go terminal if you live in a high humidity area and don’t slow it down with some protective measures. The more you can slow it down, the least likely they will go terminal and, in my opinion, any slow toning that occurs looks nicer and the slower the better.
Mr_Spud
All my pages look like this.
Jim
When a man who is honestly mistaken hears the truth, he will either quit being mistaken or cease to be honest....Abraham Lincoln
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.....Mark Twain
Yes, it's kinda like the look. Many of them have different shades
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
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Mr_Spud
Only 3 toners in my album and they are the 38's....
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
Nice group of toners posted here.
Something worth considering is that the coins had some form of contamination on their surfaces prior to being placed in the album. That would account for differences in tone and the fact that some coins didn't tone at all. It's always the assumption that the toning components come from the album but that isn't necessarily true.
That's possible but for as long as I can remember, I have "always" (30+ years) acetoned every coin before putting them in the albums. Maybe it's the acetone. 😉
Disclaimer: I'm not a dealer, trader, grader, investor or professional numismatist. I'm just a hobbyist. (To protect me but mostly you! 🤣 )
I just ran across this photo in my camera roll on my iPad and thought of this thread. Here’s what my Wayte Raymond Jefferson Album looks like. These were blast white when I put them in there about 20 years ago. For most of those years the album was in airtight enclosed places like Tupperware with Desiccant cartridges in it and for a while in an airtight unplugged wine cooler with desiccant cartridges, but sometimes stayed out on a bookshelf. These days in an archival acid free box wrapped in archival acid free buffered paper in a closet with a dehumidifier in with it. I think they would have gone terminal if I just left them out, my house averages 75% relative humidities most of the year being 6 blocks from the Pacific Ocean
Mr_Spud