Need explanation 1974 Kennedy Yellow or Gold tone

friend

I have a 1974 Kennedy Half Dollar, but it has a Yellow or Gold tone throughout the coin obverse and reverse. It is not tarnish it is within the coin. Could someone please explain? Thank you.

pharmer

You have good questions and are becoming a good contributor, but this is a visual medium in a lot of respects, and you really need to get that camera you've said you're going to get. I knew nothing, never oned a digital camera, but this forum made me learn, and the experience improves exponentially.

19Lyds

Possibly, just possibly gold plated or gold anodized. I have a gold plated Kennedy, a silver plated Kennedy and a gold anodized Ike.

Coins often times make it into the plating baths and then get spent!

If I remember (which can be quite a challenge at times) I'll post some pics.

MadMarty

If it's a rust color it could be a dip gone bad.

friend

I'm going to be picking up a camera in the morning and I will post a photo. I just hope the photo will be good enough to show the perfect color of this coin.

MrSpud

Here's one other possibility. The progression of colors as a toned coin starts to tone typically starts with a golden-yellow, then proceeds to reddish-purple, then to bluish-purple, then to blue. Especially if the toning happens quickly for some reason, these colors can cover the entire surface of the coin in a uniform manner. It might of accidently got exposed to heat and/or atmospheric gasses and started to tone.

Below is a copy and paste of a post I made a while back regarding the progression of colors that appear on a coin as the film grows thicker. I believe the outer clad layer of a Kennedy is made of a similar metal compostion as is the nickel in this example.

Here is a picture of the progression of ARTIFICIAL toning. This is the same coin with a picture taken every 8-10 seconds as the coin was being AT'd (thermal oxidation method). The progression goes from pale yellow to gold to orange to reddish purple then purplish blue to blue. I believe that for natural toning, the progression is similar but that there is more emphasis on some of the colors that are in between these colors and less emphasis on these artificial colors. For example, more green and less reddish or blueish purple.