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Ever buy a "blast white" coin, then look up its auction history....

rheddenrhedden Posts: 6,645 ✭✭✭✭✭
Have you ever bought a "blast white" coin, looked up its auction history (for example, in the Heritage archives), and found out that once upon a time it had original toning?
This just happened to me yesterday. I bought a beautiful 1897 NGC PR64CAM Liberty nickel from a retail dealer for $340, and found the same exact coin in the Heritage auction archives, where it sold for $540 and change just last year. In the mean time, somebody dipped it to death to remove traces of a fingerprint in a failed attempt to score an upgrade. The fingerprint is gone, and the grade didn't change. It used to be faintly toned, with what appeared to be a blue-ish hue (although it's tough to judge color from a Heritage photo sometimes). Now it is blast white. Possibly made a trip to NCS in the mean time. It's a shame that the original toning is past history, but the coin was a deal at $340, so I took it. Now I am left wondering if the coin is going to slowly develop blotchy, brown stains while it's sitting in the holder, like dipped nickels tend to do. I don't have the coin yet, but I'll put up pictures when I get it.

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    BECOKABECOKA Posts: 16,961 ✭✭✭
    Very good question. I was actually considering a similar one. I was curious if coins would continue to tone in slabs. They allow little or no air to the coin reducing the exposure to the elements that cause toning to begin with. The only hitch to this is I see milk spots developing like crazy on some modern Silver Eagles so there must be some exposure.

    So my additional question in this thread would be has anyone seen any nice toning on any coin new or old after having it slabed? Not to avoid the original question of having the liberty nickel brown in a slab after getting dipped.

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