I have a guilty secret...

laurentyvan

About 18 months ago I bought a standup curio cabinet with 6 glass sheves, light, etc, framed in a red wood of some kind.

I filled it with large medals, proof coins in airtite containers, and the few slabbed coins I had. A few silver proof pieces on display were naked, unprotected. Basically most everything just sat for well over a year and recently I pulled out the naked pieces and you guessed it, vivid to moderate toning of an agreeable sort- light golds, reds, blue/green, very attractive stuff, totally natural-looking.

Nothing else is showing toning and the down side of any 'naked' coins did not tone.

The question is: AT or NT and should I be concerned enough to change things? Will slabbed or airtite pieces tone over time in this environment? I've seen pictures of other similar-looking cabinets on the forum and never thought twice about this acquisition... and isn't this the way many classic pieces in coin cabinets toned naturally over the years?

I feel guilty 'cause I could turn out some real beauties over a short period, if I was so inclined.

koincollect

Please post some pictures. :-) NT IMO.

theboz11

I asked that same question when the thread about some lightside who AT'ed was up here. Nobobdy answered me at the time. My cabinet has produced some nice toning on a couple Victoria medals over the last few years.

drjules

NT if you ask me. My opinion of AT is that it involves deliberate use of chemicals / cooking agents over a very short period of time. The question of where one draws the line is difficult. For example I have a very simple set of nickels in a Dansco album, all very innocent and mostly just pocket change to see what I can find. But the satin finish nickels I put in there about 6 months ago are toning markedly. Now I call this NT, I did nothing more deliberate than storing the coins, and so did you in your case. So enjoy the coins guilt free and post some pics!

Dr J

globalcoin

I look for depth of tone. Does the toning appear to float on the surface or look deeply set into the luster.

I wanna see pics

cacheman

NT....unless you have an open pan of sulpher or ammonia in the bottom drawer...

laurentyvan

a good example

This is one set I had out-didn't tone on the reverse (which was down) but the up side sure did.

1jester

Nice coins, Laurent! Do you know the mintage of the set?

Correct me if I err, but is the original packaging made of PVC?

laurentyvan

Nice coins, Laurent! Do you know the mintage of the set?

8,540

Correct me if I err, but is the original packaging made of PVC?

It may be and that's why I had them out of the packaging to begin with.

another toner from the cabinet

AuldFartte

I completely agree with Dr.J - it's NT. It's just a byproduct of a very typical storage method for collectors.
For it to be AT it must, IMHO, be done deliberately with chemicals, blowtorch, whatever.