Did the majority of collectors that like rainbow toned coins "come of age" in the 60's

jessewvu

I don't see how I could appreciate a rainbow toned coin unless I was naturally s-"toned" myself.

ricko

I am not a fan of tarnish, rainbow or otherwise, and I 'came of age' (whatever that means) around that time... Cheers, RickO

Weg

"Are you Experienced" in toners?
Like that kind of Purple Haze?

mrearlygold

Like wow man , like what do you mean?



Happy Trails to You!

coinsarefun

<< <i>Like wow man , like what do you mean?



Happy Trails to You! >>

GRANDAM

I came "of age" in the 1960's and while I do think some toned coins are pretty I would never pay the premium that is asked of these coins.

Example: I would pay MAYBE - 10% premium if I really liked the look of the coin but to pay 2x - 3x up to 50-100x untoned price is foolish IMHO,,,,,

GrandAm

ambro51

I think the appreciation of toning has been influenced by color images in the Redbook and auction catalogs

Cougar1978

I don't know where you get the idea those of us who started collecting in the 60's like toned coins. For the most part I have disliked toned conis and considered them inferior but my attitude has lightened up in recent years especially from strong profits on some toners.

I have never been a fan of tarnished coins (or what they call toners now) and have for the most part dipped them throughout my numismatic career. Lately, I have developed an appreciation for toners I can buy cheap and get a good margin on but it has taken some attitude adjustment on my part. Most of my customers at shows prefer brilliant coins and will pass on toners or coins that look they have been run over by a truck let alone pay a premium on them. If it is pvc toning, the coin should be conserved or dipped immediately otherwise the damage will get worse. As a dealer I try to move everything in 2-3 years to avoid coins going bad in the holder.

The govt pkgd pf sets in pliofilm contain pvc - these coins sb removed immediately from that. Some may benefit from a dip.

I like coins that are brilliant, wellstruck, with nice cartwheel luster as pristine as the day they came from the mint. IMO these coins are PQ.

I dislike coins with haze or look they were thumbed. IMO these pieces need to be dipped.

I have a copy of the Coin Preservation Handbook I picked up in the 60's and the reality is toning on a coin represents damage from the atmosphere, heat, humidity, and possible biological attack which will get worse over time. Give a coin 2 or three years in a holder and it may start to develop some haze, spots, tarnish and possibly need a dip.

During the 1960-s collectors wanted coins that were BU with nice luster. A few bagmarks were ok but tarnished coins were considered inferior. I remember dipping a BU common date Saint I had purchased for around $90 (simply bc I did not like the slightly deep gold tarnished color) in the late 1960's and it graded MS66 in 1987 (later on sold). The quick in and out dip made it look more BU.......They also had something called nikalene (for nickels) and nikatone (to retone cleaned cents) and of course jewel luster for gold and silver coins. I remember the mens room at a show and all the sinks taken up by dealers dipping coins. People wanted BU coins not uncs as toners were called. I would store my nicer coins stacked up in their 2x2's then in a glass jar with silica gel in my safe to practice proper coin preservation (coin preservation handbook). Since taking tables at shows over 20 years ago I have found the ignorance of people on the bourse towards proper coin preservation astounding. Its like they believe the Earth has no atmosphere....Whats more laughable is people paying huge premiums on PF 70 mods which will probably go bad in their holders in what 5 years or less? I have no sympathy for them when the coins get spotted or develop haze. I recall a guy at a show trying to get a refund on one of these from a dealer at a show he bought three years ago - the dealer says "sorry your return priveledge expired two weeks after you bought it if it was mail order and if sight seen all transactions are final." People around just laughed and laughed.

I recently had to dip an entire roll of ASE's simply because the govt roll container (prob contains pvc) caused black tarnish to develop on the edges. You could see it thru the plastic of the container. It was a challenge I had to put them in roll form, then scrub the edges with a cloth soaked in dip. Get them out of those govt containers and put them in hard plastic roll containers.

vibr0nic

<< <i> I would pay MAYBE - 10% premium if I really liked the look of the coin but to pay 2x - 3x up to 50-100x untoned price is foolish IMHO >>



Paying 2-3x or even 10x more for a particular attribute of a coin that makes it 100x more rare and magnitudes more appealing and interesting over its pedestrian companions is hardly foolish. By all means, collect what everyone else already has. I'll take unique coins anyday.

Cougar1978

<< <i>

<< <i> I would pay MAYBE - 10% premium if I really liked the look of the coin but to pay 2x - 3x up to 50-100x untoned price is foolish IMHO >>



Paying 2-3x or even 10x more for a particular attribute of a coin that makes it 100x more rare and magnitudes more appealing and interesting over its pedestrian companions is hardly foolish. By all means, collect what everyone else already has. I'll take unique coins anyday. >>



I like the first opinion better. The second is certainly registry class, but then I am afraid I would be the end user. Its my money my hobby.

messydesk

Waiting for someone to list the "Psilocybin Pset" of Morgans or Franklins.

LochNESS

<< <i>I think the appreciation of toning has been influenced by color images in the Redbook and auction catalogs >>


Interesting theory. Here's another gem: if the toning is natural, how come there are so few ancients and even Medieval-era toners?

Since so many of them are moderns (1850 or later) I'm pretty certain our chemically-treated cardboard albums and plastic holders with foam inserts are the origin of "toners."

vibr0nic

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i> I would pay MAYBE - 10% premium if I really liked the look of the coin but to pay 2x - 3x up to 50-100x untoned price is foolish IMHO >>



Paying 2-3x or even 10x more for a particular attribute of a coin that makes it 100x more rare and magnitudes more appealing and interesting over its pedestrian companions is hardly foolish. By all means, collect what everyone else already has. I'll take unique coins anyday. >>



I like the first opinion better. The second is certainly registry class, but then I am afraid I would be the end user. Its my money my hobby. >>



I agree, especially with your very last comment. I wouldn't refer to anyone else's collecting preferences or capabilities as "foolish", though. Everyone can collect what they like - this hobby is vast enough to be enjoyed in many diverse ways.

Personally, I would rather pay ten times the "normal" price for a single colorful toner with distinction and character rather than have ten identical white copies of the same coin. Call me a fool if you like. I'm a happy fool who loves my collection.

yellowkid

I see appreciation for toners as a typical maturation of taste that is present in many fields of collecting where patina is all important. For instance, the antique American furniture market and the heady prices that some pieces bring are usually based on the surface of the piece, be it natural or old paint. Many new collectors enter the market because they purchased an item that had been stripped and resurfaced at some point. If this is the "bite" of the collecting bug and it follows it's typical pattern, their taste will change as they develop an eye and will, at some point, look with disdain on that first purchase. I've seen it happen many times. It happened to me.

Let me edit this by saying that I don't consider garish rainbow toning as a natural toning progression, or one that, IMHO, enhances the appeal of a piece. I don't mean to say that all such pieces are AT, I just find many of them unattractive. You can have a painted cupboard fade over the years from a nice bittersweet color to an unsightly shade of pink.

SkyMan

Not me, I "came of age" in the 1970's.

WingedLiberty1957

Guilty as charged ...

daOnlyBG

<< <i>

<< <i> I would pay MAYBE - 10% premium if I really liked the look of the coin but to pay 2x - 3x up to 50-100x untoned price is foolish IMHO >>



Paying 2-3x or even 10x more for a particular attribute of a coin that makes it 100x more rare and magnitudes more appealing and interesting over its pedestrian companions is hardly foolish. By all means, collect what everyone else already has. I'll take unique coins anyday. >>


I agree with the second comment more. I normally don't like the 1892 Columbian Half commemorative, but I fell in love with the one Todd Pollack had the moment he saw it on the forum. I'm pretty sure I paid higher than a 10% premium on the coin- maybe even higher than 50%- but I've received offers that are 2-3 times what I paid for the coin anyway! It doesn't have to be "registry class." Though I like commemoratives, I am not anywhere starting a classic commemorative set.
My original point is that toning is outrageously subjective. The only thing we could really gauge is which types of toning bring in higher price multiples than other toning. Heck, even that is subjective, too.

keets

The govt pkgd pf sets in pliofilm contain pvc - these coins sb removed immediately from that.

I believe this statement to be untrue and would ask you to provide proof of this assertion or to please revise your post so as not to mislead collectors. also, much of what you posted is simply your opinion and shouldn't be represented as fact.

BillJones

When I got started as a collector in the 1960s white silver coins were "in." Almost EVERYTHING got dipped white. My first "really old" U.S. coin was a 1799 Bust dollar in VF-30. It was white, and when the time came to sell it circa 1973 I got a premium price for it at the time.

I think that the toner stuff got started in the 1980s and grew from there. Now "juiced up color" is all the rage, but not for me. I'll take gray or normal color any day over the neon stuff, especially over the sky high prices that neon brings.

Baley

My take on it is that there are A LOT of coins. Billions upon billions of coins. And almost all of them are "ordinary"

So people look for ways to find Differences. Rare dates and mintmarks are the start, then die varieties, particularly if they're interesting and can be give a cute name. (think bearded goddess and speared buffalo) Visually stimulating varieties are very popular (1955 DDO), and of course, the pretty colors of rainbow toning.

Color can add beauty and interest to otherwise ordinary coins, so of course it's popular. And since it can be added to any coin, of course it happens a lot.

Those that get really good at adding color to coins can get them "slabbed" as market acceptable and make a lot of money. More spectacular rainbow toned coins appear, seemingly out of nowhere, every day, and no one seems to wonder where this amazing coin has been all these years?

jayPem

I was born in the 60's , and I've always thought wild toners were pretty sweet....until today.
Ricko's 5,000th proclamation that he does not like tarnished coins has changed my mind, and I no longer like them either...

Banemorth

I'm 25 and only collect rainbow toners

Elcontador

Toned coins have always been out there, but as someone mentioned, I think some people got together and created a market for them sometime in the 90s, especially for toned Morgan $s. The marketing of these coins resulted in an EAC like following of these coins among some people, resulting is large premiums paid for coins with certain 'looks.' When more money is paid for coins with certain 'looks,' one tends to see more of these coins being made available to the public.

My only additional comment is that if ones wants originality, he / she should know what a naturally toned looks like, versus one that was cooked alongside Colonel Sanders Chicken.

crazyhounddog

I'm guilty....

bestclser1

Great toned Buffalo Joe,Ricko is very respeted by me as a collector.Give me that 10-20X premium toned monster RAINBOW,NT mind you,in even 64s and higher because frankly they are just so much more appealing to me.So Vibronic,Skyman,Joe,and I stay strong,and Weimer Wite stays strong as someone i have no respect for.Ricko is my man,we just disagree here.Best,Lloyd

bestclser1

This coin is not mine,but its cool!PCGS 66 with a bean.If you missed it oh well!I am exhausted from the show my new job,and this crazy city,and now this thread