Anybody NOT like toning?
Weiss
Posts: 9,941 ✭✭✭✭✭
Pseudo-newbie observation here. I've been collecting coins since I was about 4 (31 years next month!). But I've been a little out of the loop in the last 5 years or so. I'm puzzled by the current fascination with toned coins.
I understand the idea, or at least I think I do: natural toned coins are theoretically coins that show age while simultaneously offering some degree of proof that the coin hasn't been "conserved".
And while I think some of the "monsters" I've seen posted here over the last few months are beautiful, they aren't "real". A mint state coin, by definition, is a coin that has all of the characteristics of having just been minted, yes? Bag marks are understandable. But toning, at least the "natural" toning from rolls or from cardboard holders, takes years if not decades, and requires non-mint intervention doesn't it? Certainly some bagged Morgans took on rainbow coloring, but those seem to be the exception.
I've seen some pretty examples of toning, like the killer Buffalo proof in the PCGS/Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection (page C-21) that really does have outstanding eye appeal. But with all the noise about toning, I'm wondering why people need more? And if you're putting your coins in PCI holders or cardboard folders to encourage toning, where do you draw the line? Kind of reminds me of the person who buys a brand-new sports car, designed by the finest artists and CAD designers in the world, and then puts tacky racing stripes and decals on it, tints the windows, and adds curb feelers.
At what point do you say that our obsolete coins, at least, are beautiful enough on their own. What's next, this?
Thoughts? Am I way off base? Any other opinions?
I understand the idea, or at least I think I do: natural toned coins are theoretically coins that show age while simultaneously offering some degree of proof that the coin hasn't been "conserved".
And while I think some of the "monsters" I've seen posted here over the last few months are beautiful, they aren't "real". A mint state coin, by definition, is a coin that has all of the characteristics of having just been minted, yes? Bag marks are understandable. But toning, at least the "natural" toning from rolls or from cardboard holders, takes years if not decades, and requires non-mint intervention doesn't it? Certainly some bagged Morgans took on rainbow coloring, but those seem to be the exception.
I've seen some pretty examples of toning, like the killer Buffalo proof in the PCGS/Official Guide to Coin Grading and Counterfeit Detection (page C-21) that really does have outstanding eye appeal. But with all the noise about toning, I'm wondering why people need more? And if you're putting your coins in PCI holders or cardboard folders to encourage toning, where do you draw the line? Kind of reminds me of the person who buys a brand-new sports car, designed by the finest artists and CAD designers in the world, and then puts tacky racing stripes and decals on it, tints the windows, and adds curb feelers.
At what point do you say that our obsolete coins, at least, are beautiful enough on their own. What's next, this?
Thoughts? Am I way off base? Any other opinions?
We are like children who look at print and see a serpent in the last letter but one, and a sword in the last.
--Severian the Lame
--Severian the Lame
0
Comments
All of them should be sent to me for proper disposal.
GSAGUY
Don't sweat it. Collect what you like. For me, I don't collect MS coins so I have very few with "toning".
Joe.
--------
Howdy from Houston...
Can't keep my eyes
from the circling skies
Tongue tied and twisted
Just an earthbound misfit,
I
">my registry set
Perhaps its that the veteran collectors have seen so many nicely minted coins already that they need a little veriety ie: two toned coins of the same mint and grade never look exactly the same.
Oh btw, hello mesage board members
( A paraphrase among Northmen )
---------------------------------
"No Good Deed Goes Unpunished!"
"If it don't make $"
"It don't make cents""
Edited to add-- D'oh! and a welcome to you too, Weiss. It is your thread, afterall.
Clankeye
Dennis
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