Hello everyone,

First of all, my apologies for the quality of the images I posted initially; they were far from ideal.

To make things right and provide proper material for your analysis, I am adding ultra-close macro photos of each denomination involved in this experiment. Now you can clearly appreciate the artificial toning progression across the different metal surfaces.

Take a close look at the color shifts, the surface texture, and how the light reacts to these tones. The forum has been running quite slow today for me and everyone else on the board, which made it a challenge to attach these images earlier.

@jmlanzaf said:
Respectfully, who cares the method? It's not a good method, because it won't fool anyone. (I know, you said that wasn't the point.) You can place them in a variety of sulfur-containing media at slightly elevated temperatures and get that to happen fairly quickly. I'm not sure what the point of the guessing game is.

This is like the posts from people asking how a damaged coin could come to be damaged. The specific mechanism is rarely that important, nor can it easily be pinpointed specifically because there are dozens of ways to scratch a coin. Similarly, BADLY artificially toning a coin is simple. Numerous foreign compounds will accelerate oxidation or sulfurization. Sometimes, just laundry detergent will do it with reactive metals.

Hello my friend, to be completely honest, I opened this thread because a few days ago, another member of this forum—whom I now consider a friend and my tutor—recommended that I read through the threads posted by coinscratch, as well as your own threads under jmlanzaf. I was highly entertained and intrigued by how coinscratch once tried to tone a coin using a sparkler flare; that entire thread really brought a smile to my face, and studying your insights on this board has been incredibly educational for me.

So, out of pure curiosity, I discovered this method some time ago and wanted to share it here. As both you and I have correctly stated, I have absolutely no desire to deceive anyone. My real goal is simply to understand how to improve the finish of this toning process just to fill an album for my personal collection. That is my honest explanation.

And by the way... you weren't even close to guessing my actual method! 🙂

@jmlanzaf said:
Respectfully, who cares the method? It's not a good method, because it won't fool anyone. (I know, you said that wasn't the point.) You can place them in a variety of sulfur-containing media at slightly elevated temperatures and get that to happen fairly quickly. I'm not sure what the point of the guessing game is.

This is like the posts from people asking how a damaged coin could come to be damaged. The specific mechanism is rarely that important, nor can it easily be pinpointed specifically because there are dozens of ways to scratch a coin. Similarly, BADLY artificially toning a coin is simple. Numerous foreign compounds will accelerate oxidation or sulfurization. Sometimes, just laundry detergent will do it with reactive metals.

Hello my friend, to be completely honest, I opened this thread because a few days ago, another member of this forum—whom I now consider a friend and my tutor—recommended that I read through the threads posted by coinscratch, as well as your own threads under jmlanzaf. I was highly entertained and intrigued by how coinscratch once tried to tone a coin using a sparkler flare; that entire thread really brought a smile to my face, and studying your insights on this board has been incredibly educational for me.

So, out of pure curiosity, I discovered this method some time ago and wanted to share it here. As both you and I have correctly stated, I have absolutely no desire to deceive anyone. My real goal is simply to understand how to improve the finish of this toning process just to fill an album for my personal collection. That is my honest explanation.

And by the way... you weren't even close to guessing my actual method! 🙂

@IkesT said:

Put the coins into a ripening soursop.

Haha, you are actually getting quite close! But you are missing the real secret: the soursop (guanábana) must be picked exactly on a Friday morning at 10:00 AM. Only then can you insert the coin, bury the fruit in the ground, and wait for exactly 10 days... and that's it! 😀

@lilolme said:
@MrSpud

This is a link (20 year old) to a MrSpud comment on AT. Most of the pictures do not show up for me. However, the link has some descriptions on it and methods.
.
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/5740335/#Comment_5740335
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I believe these two might be part of the unseen (for me) photos in the link. This would be the AT progression that I recall 'pulling' from some MrSpud comment.
.

To be honest, sometimes a lot of crazy ideas have no rhyme or reason. But seeing that my post has stirred up the forum's memory and brought back these historical details from so many years ago gives me a truly rewarding feeling. It proves my "madness" actually has very clear precedents! It's fascinating to see that highly prestigious members right here in this forum have had the exact same ideas cross their minds in the past.

@kaz said:
way back I pulled this out of the pocket of a pair of pants I had just washed. However, the color rubbed off with my fingers.

@kaz You are absolutely spot on, my friend! I’ve encountered many coins with those exact visual details myself. As I mentioned earlier, working with industrial appliances—including daily maintenance on washing machines—is part of my line of work.

I have found plenty of coins similar to yours over the years. I’ll even add that some coins end up trapped inside those machines for years on end. When I finally pull them out during repairs, they are covered in a thick crust, looking exactly like the silver cobs salvaged from Spanish galleons after centuries under the sea. It always brings a huge smile to my face!

@ricarf2386 said:

@kaz said:
way back I pulled this out of the pocket of a pair of pants I had just washed. However, the color rubbed off with my fingers.

@kaz You are absolutely spot on, my friend! I’ve encountered many coins with those exact visual details myself. As I mentioned earlier, working with industrial appliances—including daily maintenance on washing machines—is part of my line of work.

I have found plenty of coins similar to yours over the years. I’ll even add that some coins end up trapped inside those machines for years on end. When I finally pull them out during repairs, they are covered in a thick crust, looking exactly like the silver cobs salvaged from Spanish galleons after centuries under the sea. It always brings a huge smile to my face!

@registrador7 I am very, very happy to run into you again in a thread and to be commenting with you once more. Sending you a big hug from afar, my friend!

You are absolutely right. Your experience confirms that trying to rush the process with fast methods only produces unnatural results that are easily spotted as altered. The anecdote about the coin you placed on the sunny window sill is a brilliant and highly intelligent example. It proves that subtle, environmental heat over time is the real secret behind genuine-looking eye appeal. Thank you for sharing such valuable insights!

@Rc5280 said:
annoying attempts to curry favor.......

@Rc5280 Dear friend, based on what I understand from my translator, you are implying that I am being overly flattering. Well, to be honest, that is exactly who I am in person. When I meet people I like, I never hesitate to offer a warm greeting and a smile.

I believe this approach is much better; if I had introduced myself as someone rude or arrogant, I would have been excluded from this community from day one. However, if my cordial way of responding seems annoying to you, I sincerely apologize.