good toning vs. bad toning - examples 4 u

its4real

This toning question has me stymied (something easy to do).

According to most of what I have read - "natural" toning is "good". An example of this would be on this 1885 morgan on the reverse side (shown in compairson to the obverse):



One could assume that this dollar sat in an album with the obverse facing out for years and the reverse side got "toned".

Now here is a half dime. It appears that it slipped down into some kind of holder - notice the toning is a quarter moon shape.



Is this toning thing just eye appeal?
Or - as long as it's "natural" it's okay?
Is being in an album "natural"?
Is uneven toning ugly?
Is "color" necessary for toning?
Can't you just have "black stuff" and CALL IT toning?

The half dime is in very good shape - but the eye appeal just isn't there. How much does this effect the grade?

Is there a standard for "toning appearance"?

Thoughts?

As many of you would like to crack the next joke of the day, how about a little help here?

kranky

Is this toning thing just eye appeal?
To many people, it is. Some people like only blast white coins, others like only toned coins, and others like both.

Or - as long as it's "natural" it's okay?
The consensus is that artificially toned (AT) coins are undesirable. There are many forms of natural toning.

Is being in an album "natural"?
Generally yes.

Is uneven toning ugly?
Personal preference.

Is "color" necessary for toning?
Not necessarily.

Can't you just have "black stuff" and CALL IT toning?
Yes, black toning is still toning.

Rotts

I like them both.Toning to me is in the eye beholder.Nice coins.Rotts

KlectorKid

Well i would say toning is eye appeal album toning is natural uneven toning can be very pretty like rainbow morgans but not always no because very old coins have black or gray surfaces which is from toning.