Too many collectors are obsessed with this “color thing.” They throw money at these coins which way exceeds their normal value, because of “monster color” which sometimes nothing more than “better coins through chemistry.” This gets the coin doctors going, of course, because of the usual profit motives.
I like coins with attractive, natural color, but I won’t pay a high premium for them. I don’t have that much against white silver coins that have been dipped.
I have no use for AT coins unless it is a rare piece of copper that has been cleaned and expertly toned down. This is necessary for preservation reasons. I had a couple in my raw type set back in the 1980s. I let them go once I was able to replace them with something better. Here is one of them that was lightly AT'd.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
@Zoins said:
Was just checking out some old threads and thought I'd save the photos for the 1879 proof trade dollar:
This ended up selling for $1,652.77, which is between AU58+ ($1,550) and PR60 ($1,750) in today's PCGS Price Guide. There were 62 bids from 22 bidders.
Zoins, that coin is just plain ugly to my eye.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
@Zoins said:
Was just checking out some old threads and thought I'd save the photos for the 1879 proof trade dollar:
This ended up selling for $1,652.77, which is between AU58+ ($1,550) and PR60 ($1,750) in today's PCGS Price Guide. There were 62 bids from 22 bidders.
Zoins, that coin is just plain ugly to my eye.
I agree. AT or not, it's ugly to my eye as well.
I've been wondering why it sold for so much and I'm currently wondering how it would fare with a dip.
@Zoins said:
Was just checking out some old threads and thought I'd save the photos for the 1879 proof trade dollar:
This ended up selling for $1,652.77, which is between AU58+ ($1,550) and PR60 ($1,750) in today's PCGS Price Guide. There were 62 bids from 22 bidders.
Zoins, that coin is just plain ugly to my eye.
I agree. AT or not, it's ugly to my eye as well.
I've been wondering why it sold for so much and I'm currently wondering how it would fare with a dip.
It is a Proof-only date with a low mintage of 1,541 which might explain the price.
As for dipping it, I'd say you would end up with something that would be a bit dull and washed out.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
@Zoins said:
Was just checking out some old threads and thought I'd save the photos for the 1879 proof trade dollar:
This ended up selling for $1,652.77, which is between AU58+ ($1,550) and PR60 ($1,750) in today's PCGS Price Guide. There were 62 bids from 22 bidders.
Zoins, that coin is just plain ugly to my eye.
I agree. AT or not, it's ugly to my eye as well.
I've been wondering why it sold for so much and I'm currently wondering how it would fare with a dip.
It is a Proof-only date with a low mintage of 1,541 which might explain the price.
As for dipping it, I'd say you would end up with something that would be a bit dull and washed out.
I was thinking it could then be possibly toned again, possibly in a more market acceptable way.
@Zoins said:
Was just checking out some old threads and thought I'd save the photos for the 1879 proof trade dollar:
This ended up selling for $1,652.77, which is between AU58+ ($1,550) and PR60 ($1,750) in today's PCGS Price Guide. There were 62 bids from 22 bidders.
Zoins, that coin is just plain ugly to my eye.
I agree. AT or not, it's ugly to my eye as well.
I've been wondering why it sold for so much and I'm currently wondering how it would fare with a dip.
I agree... not pleasing to my eye either. I just wonder what this piece looked like pre-AT. I'm sort of on the fence as to whether or not to dip. If done correctly, it could rescue this coin; however, 10 or 20 years on down the line it could revert back to something even less pleasing. If done incorrectly, one ends up with dead and dull surfaces.
Collecting: Dansco 7070; Middle Date Large Cents (VF-AU); Box of 20;
Maybe my eyes simply haven’t seen them, but the dealers and auction houses I follow haven’t gone ga-ga over toners. In fact, they just don’t seem to offer many of them. If I wanted a toned coin (I own only a handful of them) somebody on eBay would be the last place I’d buy one from.
I’ve met some of the people who buy this crap. They’re as bad as the sellers. They really believe what they bought is a superb gem and you can’t tell them different. Try it and you’ll be accused of trying to con them out of their valuable coin. They believe that because other people were bidding they got a good deal. One guy told me “10 others were also trying to buy this. You sayin’ were all wrong?” Yup, that’s what I’m sayin’.
Save your breath. They guys who buy this stuff pretty much deserve what they get.
Comments
Too many collectors are obsessed with this “color thing.” They throw money at these coins which way exceeds their normal value, because of “monster color” which sometimes nothing more than “better coins through chemistry.” This gets the coin doctors going, of course, because of the usual profit motives.
I like coins with attractive, natural color, but I won’t pay a high premium for them. I don’t have that much against white silver coins that have been dipped.
I have no use for AT coins unless it is a rare piece of copper that has been cleaned and expertly toned down. This is necessary for preservation reasons. I had a couple in my raw type set back in the 1980s. I let them go once I was able to replace them with something better. Here is one of them that was lightly AT'd.
Zoins, that coin is just plain ugly to my eye.
I agree. AT or not, it's ugly to my eye as well.
I've been wondering why it sold for so much and I'm currently wondering how it would fare with a dip.
It is a Proof-only date with a low mintage of 1,541 which might explain the price.
As for dipping it, I'd say you would end up with something that would be a bit dull and washed out.
I was thinking it could then be possibly toned again, possibly in a more market acceptable way.
I agree... not pleasing to my eye either. I just wonder what this piece looked like pre-AT. I'm sort of on the fence as to whether or not to dip. If done correctly, it could rescue this coin; however, 10 or 20 years on down the line it could revert back to something even less pleasing. If done incorrectly, one ends up with dead and dull surfaces.
Successful BST transactions with: SilverEagles92; Ahrensdad; Smitty; GregHansen; Lablade; Mercury10c; copperflopper; whatsup; KISHU1; scrapman1077, crispy, canadanz, smallchange, robkool, Mission16, ranshdow, ibzman350, Fallguy, Collectorcoins, SurfinxHI, jwitten, Walkerguy21D, dsessom.
Too many halos around sellers ankles, for the love of money.
Maybe my eyes simply haven’t seen them, but the dealers and auction houses I follow haven’t gone ga-ga over toners. In fact, they just don’t seem to offer many of them. If I wanted a toned coin (I own only a handful of them) somebody on eBay would be the last place I’d buy one from.
yes It’s a crying shame what some people will do. Now these coins are destroyed.
I’ve met some of the people who buy this crap. They’re as bad as the sellers. They really believe what they bought is a superb gem and you can’t tell them different. Try it and you’ll be accused of trying to con them out of their valuable coin. They believe that because other people were bidding they got a good deal. One guy told me “10 others were also trying to buy this. You sayin’ were all wrong?” Yup, that’s what I’m sayin’.
Save your breath. They guys who buy this stuff pretty much deserve what they get.