As a general rule, do alblum toned coins tend to tone from the rims inward? Does it happen on both

UncleWiggly

Thanks, this is an off shoot from another thread about putting BU coins in alblums.


Jerry

nwcs

It's been my observation that it does start at the rims. As for both sides, it depends on how the coin is stored. If one side is more closly touching an album page than the other, then it will probably tone more on one side than the other.

Aethelred

As a general rule yes and yes.

originalisbest

One thing you'll notice from say, BU coins in albums is a significant amount of toning at the point where a slightly small slide is only just barely covering the coins, either at top or bottom edge.

UncleWiggly

Well, my next question then is this. To the purist way of thinking, is alblum toning considered natural or artificial?


Jerry

airplanenut

Definitely natural

originalisbest

As Jeremy said, definitely natural. Of course sometimes they look very nice - and sometimes, not so great. Luck of the draw, and in the eye of the beholder.

dorkkarl

album toning is artificial, but very market-acceptable. i say artificial, because coin albums are not the environment intended by the u.s. mint (circulation is), & therefore by def'n is artificial. but the environment is generally m-a.

generally speaking also, if it's an album w/ slides (dansco, wayte-raymond), obv. & rev. will tone simultaneously & in sync. if it's an old-style whitman coin board, the rev. will tone much more then the obv., or at least the side facing the back of the album will tone the most. in some cases, the rev. will corrode while the obv. will be just fine.

i'm telling you this based on 35 years of experience using albums.

K S

keets

To the purist way of thinking, is alblum toning considered natural or artificial?

this is a tricky question not easily answered with a quick two word post, right Jeremy??

it seems that maybe thirty-five years ago, to use DK's number, storing coins in albums was a normal and accepted way of housing a collection. i wonder how often those collectors pulled out their folders and were dismayed to find the BU coins starting to "turn" and subsequently cleaned them in some fashion, thus damaging them. others left them as is and we have some wonderful toned examples today.

fast forward to a time when it's known what agents are harming coin surfaces and manufactureres are striving to eliminate those chemicals from their products. AT/NT issues cast a dark shadow on the hobby. now enterprising collectors are clamoring for old style, chemically treated storage folders to place coins in, with the hope of duplicating the past, right in line with the retro-movement that swept the late 90's.

for me it always come down to intent, although noone can really differentiate between the coins surface from the two scenarios. placing a coin in an environment which is known to be damaging to it's surface with the hope of imparting attractive tone to enhance it's value just seems blatantly AT to me. but that's just me.

al h.

Steve27

"To the purist way of thinking, is alblum toning considered natural or artificial?"

Even purists view album toning as NT, because the albums inadvertantly caused the toning. The intent of the album was always to store and protect the coins, but as we now know, many of the albums cause toning.

UncleWiggly

Thanks everybody. What I couldn't figure out, DorkKarl put very simple....and Keets explanation summed it up. Artificial, but very marketable, and what I've found out gradeable.


Thanks,


Jerry

dorkkarl

bingo.

also,

<< <i>Even purists view album toning as NT, because the albums inadvertantly caused the toning >>

not true. MANY coins from albums would & do consistently get body-bagged for "artificial toning".

purists would define "natural toning" as toning that occurs as a result of exposure to a coin's natural environment, which most of the time is CIRCULATION. bank rolls, bank bags & vaults, etc. might also be a natural environment for certain coins, but the mint most certainly did not manufacture bust halves with the intent of storing them in cardboard albums.

K S