Is Toning Bad For A Coin??

elwood

Is toning bad for a coin?
How much damage does it do to the coin. I mean natural toning, not color from some substance that has gotten on the coin.
Does it errode the surfaces?
Is a white coin healthier?
500 yrs from now would it have been better for the coin to have been kept white or left untouched?

Which is better/worse for the coin cleaned/uncleaned? I mean cleaned by a pro every hundred yrs or when needed.

Not personal preference, but the best thing for the coin.

Placid

You trying to start a argument?

toning
The term for the color seen on many coins. There are infinite shades, hues, and pattern variations seen, the result of how, where, and how long a coin is stored. Every coin begins to tone as it leaves the die, as all United States coins contain reactive metals in varying degrees.

corrosion
Damage that results when reactive chemicals act upon metal. When toning ceases to be a "protective" coating and instead begins to damage a coin, corrosion is the cause. Usually confined to copper, nickel and silver regular issues, although patterns in aluminum, white metal, tin, etc., also are subject to this harmful process.

Dave99B

Don't go there, man....

Dave

nwcs

Read up on what toning actually is and what patinas are, and I think you'll have your answer.

elwood

I'm not trying to start an argument.

I always thought the toning question was about personal preference, not whether it's harmful or not.

Will natural toning eventually cause irreversable damage to the coins surface?

If this has been the issue all along then I apologize and will have to go back and read several of the thousands of posts on toning.

Copper collectors clean their coins when needed. Is this just for eye appeal or is it helping to preserve the coins surface?