toning on proof sets

Spartan

i'm looking at some 70's proof sets from the mint, encapsulated in their plastic holders, that appear to be toning. that is they are developing some discoloring. this is best seen in lower light. in brighter light the less of this you see.

this worries me. is this normal. does this decrease value? is this toning or have the coins been stored improperly?

please advise.

by the way, i just started coming to the boards and you guys have been most helpful! thank you. i will continue to read and post.

david

ttown

It doesn't bother me. Several of my Franklin Proof set have toning.

lkrarecoins

I'm curious about this as well....lets see what the experts say

I have a 1960 Proof set, still sealed in the plastic, where the Half and Quarter are golden toned???? hmmmmmm

DHeath

The 1970 set in particular target tones. It's very common.

Spartan

thank you. by target tone, what do you mean? is this normal? does it decrease value and mean i should dump these coins before they drop in value?

david

DHeath

Imagine a bullseye, with rings of toning starting at the outside edge. Typically, the ring makes it about half-way to the center of th coin, and is light blue under normal light, and red/green when tilted. I have no idea what the mint washed the planchets with, but it's very common regardless of how the sets were stored. In my mind, it doesn't affect the value, although some pay a premium for the coins in TPG holders.

Spartan

thank you very much. one lesson learned. my dad was the collector, i just started last year. however, this does not appear to be target toning. still okay? i would say this is a smoky look starting from the edge, close to rim. what would you say about that? thanks again.

david

DHeath

It won't harm the value unless it becomes so severe it turns the coins black. JMO

Spartan

thanks

Russ

<< <i>by target tone, what do you mean? >>





Rus, NCNE

keets

bullseye tone usually results from the packaging material or storage material that coins are in. the wash issue was pretty much figured out by the mid 1960's and will generally cause a coin to tone over it'se entire surface. i would suspect that perhaps the Mint changed whatever they had been using for packaging(type of plastic) and then settled on either that material or a supplier that resulted in more stable preservation or perhaps they changed something about the way they were sealing/packing the sets prior to shipment. past that, it seems that any toning of the still intact sets is most often the result of storage in either high heat, high humidity or both which is never a good thing.

as far as value, there isn't much of a premium i see for original package sets which have toned some. the individual coins might be worth more to some collectors, though.