If a coin is 150 years old how can it not be colored in some way be it ugly or attractive?

seateddime

If a coin is 150 years old how can it not be colored in some way be it ugly or attractive?

doh

What's the third option?

TomB

It could be sealed in glass.

ecichlid

It's impossible. There. I said it.

MidLifeCrisis

Where's RickO?

TwoSides2aCoin

<< <i>Where's RickO? >>

dsessom

It was probably dipped at some point. But, that's not always a bad thing!

CommemDude

I have seen a few bust halves with frosty original white surfaces and dark peripheries that suggest they might have been stacked in a roll for many years..I cant imagine any other way this could happen.

Flatwoods

I agree that the vast majority of silver this old should be toned.
There is however a huge difference in local conditions that effect toning.
The climate in New Orleans for example is quite different than Nevada.
Stored in a certain way in a certain place it's possible to have little toning.

TONEDDOLLARS

<< <i>Where's RickO? >>



Dipping his collection

RedTiger

The 1878 Morgans are now 132 years old, and there are large numbers of original white coins that most likely have never been dipped (GSAs, Redfields). So if a coin sat in the right environment, there is a chance. If the coin circulated, the odds are exceedingly small for old, white and original. Still possible, but very slim odds.

yellowkid

I have Conders with a lot of red still, and they are a lot older than 150 years. I don't think anything has been done to them, it's all in how and where they are stored.

seateddime

Morgan dollars in bags were protected by other coins in the bags, the exposed coins did color and many of the great looking ones today were those coins.

ricko

Coins stored away from offensive environmental conditions will not tarnish. Yes, there are examples. And no, I was not dipping my coins.. However, I was admiring a very nice, white, DMPL Morgan. Cheers, RickO

PerryHall

<< <i>Coins stored away from offensive environmental conditions will not tarnish. Yes, there are examples. And no, I was not dipping my coins.. However, I was admiring a very nice, white, DMPL Morgan. Cheers, RickO >>



Agree. Proper storage prevents enviornmental damage called tarnish which some people apparently admire and collect.

BillJones

Morgan silver dollars that sat for years in mint bags never toned. Most of them were as white the day they came out of the bag as the day they went into it.

As for most other coins I tend to agree with you. Most all of them have toned. Gold coins, so long as the copper in them does not tone are the exception because gold is not very reactive. For silver and copper coins there are some very rare exceptions (e.g. "red copper"), but for the most part any coin that is over 50 years old that has not been stored in the best conditions will be toned.

Steve27

130 and still bright white! Another 20 years of low humidity storage will ensure it stays that way.

Get rid of your generalizations an preconceived notions!

"The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off." Gloria Steinem

ziggy29

<< <i>130 and still bright white! Another 20 years of low humidity storage will ensure it stays that way.

Get rid of your generalizations an preconceived notions! >>

Morgans are more or less a special case because of the special circumstances in which a huge number of them were stored for up to a century.

Seated coins and Barber coins which are the same age as Morgans, on the other hand, almost never had the special storage conditions that so many Morgans had, and thus "blast white" needs to treated with much more suspicion there.

MrEureka

Seated coins and Barber coins which are the same age as Morgans, on the other hand, almost never had the special storage conditions that so many Morgans had, and thus "blast white" needs to treated with much more suspicion there.


The few original rolls of Barber coins I've seen have all been blast white and undipped. I've also seen small hoards of silver and copper world coins, that were perfectly fresh, original and untoned. Morgan Dollars are only exceptional in that the hoards were so large.

airplanenut

<< <i>Coins stored away from offensive environmental conditions will not tarnish. Yes, there are examples. And no, I was not dipping my coins.. However, I was admiring a very nice, white, DMPL Morgan. Cheers, RickO >>

Do you know how many coins were toned in order to defend your white Morgan from the dangers of a mint bag? Us toned collectors say "you're welcome."

STEWARTBLAYNUMIS

Realalone - There were many capped bust halves saved in vaults with their original skin and are very lustrous.

What is most important is that each collector or numismatist understand how to tell what the original skin on a coin looks like in copper,silver and gold.
The original skin is actully luster which may become dull or may boom out.


Stewart

ecichlid

150 years ago was 1860. What % of untoned blast white coins from 1960, currently in the marketplace, have not been dipped? Never, ever. I would like to hear the guesses.