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Your opinion on Rainbow toned coins ?
rainbowlover1
Posts: 402 ✭✭✭
Hey Folks,
What's your opinion on Rainbow Toned coins? Me personally love em ! I just would like to hear fellow collectors opinions
- Rainbowlover1
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rainbowlover1
Posts: 402 ✭✭✭
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What would you say is your favorite toned coin in your collection?
Me love em too, matey. Arrrrghh
I like rainbow toned coins, they are interesting but I would not collect. My preference is for a natural toned with no evidence of a cleaning or a dipping (most are) coin. The choice is up to the individual.
I agree that rainbow toned edges on coins that have been cleaned do not make up for the cleaning. A lightly dipped coin that has toned over naturally afterward so that it is no longer purely white, which also has developed rainbow toning near the edges can be very attractive. Many of the silver coins from the Col. Green-Newman collection have that appearance. Naturally toned coins will have much more stable color than those generated from intentionally-applied chemicals. So a good rule of thumb would be look for toned coins in older-generation holders, as they would have proven the stability of their color, like this one, which was slabbed more than a dozen years ago:
Rainbow toned coins are often AT.... easy to achieve and difficult to detect. Cheers, RickO
I think they can be quite appealing...but sometimes, I consider the colors/toning pattern to be a distraction. I'm collecting COINS, not colors. So I'm completely unwilling to pay a premium beyond a few bucks for them. (Which means I own few, if any by some definitions, because most are willing to pay much more than that).
I'm more drawn to a nice mellow brown/gold toning.
when doing searches for 'rainbow', I find many people clearly have a broader definition of rainbow than me...
I'm a big fan of attractive NT rainbow toned coins. They can look amazing and be very unique.
I agree with davewesen. I would call these Morgans rainbow-toned. While the bust half below has nice, colorful toning I would not describe it as "rainbow".
Lance.
I don't care for them. When they nice and not AT, the prices are though the roof. When there are questions as to whether they are AT, they can get the benefit of doubt, and end up priced through the roof. Coin doctors have ruined more than their share of good coins by applying AT to them.
I like coins with original surfaces, but rainbow coins are not on my radar at the asking prices.
Not much interest - prices on them so high.
I like some but don't pay for it I find it. Like this one.
And I like not toned ones as well
Hoard the keys.
I can not deny I love natural toned coins, very much. The problem these days are the idiots that artificially tone and ruin many coins. In fact the problem is chronic at this point in time. Some crooks think it's just alright to deceive good folks for $. In my opinion this is really putting a damper on collecting and it ruining many coins that later on down the road would have been collector pieces.
The definition of what constitutes rainbow toning appears to be problematic, at least when one looks at images of coins that folks state are "rainbow toned" in their minds. I like attractive, naturally toned coins very much.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
I like them! Just check out the images in my registry sets!
Monster & rainbow descriptions are often used for coins that ain't.
"If I say something in the woods and my wife isn't there to hear it.....am I still wrong?"
My Washington Quarter Registry set...in progress
@sparky64
I totally agree with you! The over used word "Monster" is crazy and can throw the new collector off
@cardinal
I sent you a private message
My only fault with "rainbow" coins is that most are not resembling anthing at all rainbow like. A rainbow is an arch across the sky. Should that apply to rainbow toned coins?
Rainbow toned coins come that way because of storage in US mint sets, Wayte Raymond albums, 19th and early 20th century US mint proof coinage stored in original paper wrappers with high sulfur content, or bag storage of Morgan silver dollars. A lot of today's "alternative" rainbows have come from secondary toning of dipped or lightly cleaned coins that were then placed in an accelerated toning environment....such as an album. The Buffalo Historical Society collection had a big run of cleaned 18th and 19th century bust coinage with "fabulous" toning rings. Many Newman silver coins got their monster toning from being once dipped or chemically treated many decades ago...and then placed into fairly active environments.
Most freshly dipped and slabbed gem seated coins I saw back in the 1988-2003 period, are for the most part turning back a light mottled brown or golden toning today....anything but monstrous. Over time, they will likely become less and less attractive. True monster rainbows came from accelerated toning environments....typically taking 20-50 yrs or more to occur. If you stick them on the window sill in sunlight and wrapped in colored tissue papers...you can get the vibrant colors in 1-3 years.
Hit or miss for me. Some catch my eye and I end up chasing them. Some do not. I am definitely not fond of the toned modern proofs.
For me, "rainbow" or just pleasantly toned, I always go back to the history of the coin, or more appropriately, the history of the metal involved.
For me, I enjoy the sense of originality that a toned coin presents. Gold . . . as such a noble metal, not so much. It simply is hard (not impossible) to find with appreciable toning. Silver has varieties of originality depending upon composition, era, and metal preparation (Peace Dollars). Understanding the toning here is the fun of being a numismatist. Consider the history revolving around the coin, the era in which a collector might have put the coin away (Wayte Raymond / Oberwise / Library of Coins albums) and the culture of the times (bright white / color / cyanide / whizzing / altered surfaces / vinyl flips) and you develop a sense of appreciation of the toning and fabric of the times in which the toning may have occurred. Numismatics is MUCH MORE than the Greysheet . . . it is a window into not only the history of the country and world in which the coin was minted, but also the economy (what coins could anyone afford to collect), the methods of collecting and storage (which HIGHLY affects the toning), and the lineage of how the coin may have been passed down.
For copper . . . well, it is so fragile. Any cleaning, surface alteration, or chemical infringement will possibly forever ruin the sense of originality I get. But wow . . . . do I ever love those original rainbow Lincolns from the Mint Sets of 1956-58 in particular. Yes . . . the RAINBOW. I will need to learn how to post a few pics . . . . and demo the rainbow of copper.
I enjoy originality . . .and toning quite often verifies the originality of the piece I may desire to add to my collections . . .
Drunner
@DRUNNER
Very well said !
I like them and will pay a reasonable premium for them but not moon money.
“I may not believe in myself but I believe in what I’m doing” ~Jimmy Page~
My Full Walker Registry Set (1916-1947)
https://www.ngccoin.com/registry/competitive-sets/16292/
In my opinion true rainbows have to have at least 4 different colors to have a rainbow. That said, you see coins everywhere for sale called rainbow that have several shades of brown.
These are not rainbow.
My opinion on rainbow toned coins is that I love to look at pictures of really expensive ones, I like to find nice ones at a good price (being very careful not to overpay and to have the appearance be VERY market acceptable) and I strongly dislike fake looking ones (which, in my experience, is the vast majority of them) at any price
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
To me personally ! I feel that there is plenty AT stuff out there and it's all about educating the newer collector on what is and why persay . I love all original toned coins and yes most are pretty pricey. No matter what IMO buy what you like and if you really like it. Price shouldn't play a role in your decision. But of course don't want anyone to get ripped off. That turns away a future toner or even coin collector.