I don't mean to beat a dead horse....I'm just curious....

Smitty79 · February 23, 2006 8:14AM

How long would one have to store a coin in a 2x2 envelope to get any kind of toning? I have no plans to comit any kind of fraud, I just have little experience with toned coins and am just curious.

robertpr · February 23, 2006 8:30AM

It really depends on the type of coin, the date of the coin (as alloys sometimes varied by date and mint), the type of envelope, the temperature, humidity, whether the coin has ever been dipped or not, the phase of the moon, and random chance.

Some coins will tone in the right conditions within an hour (silver eagles, in a warm environment) and some will never tone at all.

JoshL · February 23, 2006 8:45AM

robertpr · February 23, 2006 8:47AM

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That horse is clearly not dead, he's still talking.

Russ · February 23, 2006 8:50AM

I hear that the number is 80 years.

Russ, NCNE

robertpr · February 23, 2006 8:51AM

He's not asking how old Marty is, Russ.

John737 · February 23, 2006 9:00AM

I am going on 25 years with some. Nada.

Heywood · February 23, 2006 9:03AM

I picked up a real nice 1966 Canadian dollar that was in an envelope for 25 years.

I have also had ASE tone in 2 years in my dansco.

CarlWohlforth · February 23, 2006 9:11AM

I don't see toning here (San Jose, CA) on silver coins in 2 x 2s. I have seen some neat toning in cardboard albums, but it hasn't happened for me.

I wrapped some silver eagles in colored tissue paper and they toned. They turned an ugly brown with darker areas near the folds in the paper.

Now this is a nickel from the Applachian hoard. The story is that some guy who lived in the Applachian mountains hoarded a bunch of coins in rolls, coffee cans and so forth. Some of them came out like this:

Now it is very humid there with cool winters and hot summers... but those colors are just wild.

This is a half that was stored in original Mint Set packaging for almost 50 years. I see the packaging and the cardboard was very cheap. It left stains on the pink paper that folded over the cardboard. So everybody says this is natural toning. I can clearly see how it got toned over the years. So even natural toning involves introducing coins to storage conditions that are not perfect.

Fairlaneman · February 23, 2006 9:43AM

Here are a couple of halves that have been in envelopes for 7 or 8 years. Both have toned rather ugly.

Ken

Smitty79 · February 23, 2006 9:46AM

Ahh, thanks for the info, guys. I was thinking along the lines of a 90% silver quarter or half or perhaps an SAE.

robertpr · February 23, 2006 9:51AM

Carl, that sure is a nice Franklin

my3cents · February 23, 2006 9:58AM

try the envelope in the oven at 250 for 30 minutes

keets · February 23, 2006 9:59AM

this hobby is really screwy, the way trends and likes/dislikes change with the passing of time.

in the past a collector would place a coin in a folder, envelope, 2x2 or other storage medium with the hope of preserving it in it's current state of surface preservation. unfortunately for collectors of the past, knowledge of chemical interaction wasn't widely known and the result was rarely what was expected. imagine a collector cleaning coins when they were found to be tarnishing from the chemicals in the paper products. fast forward several decades to a time when coin chemistry is understood and types of storage medium have been developed to prevent a deterioration of a coin's surfaces. collectors search for sulfer laden products to place their coins into for a hoped for result which will mimic the accidents of the past!!!!

what will be the end result in some 10-30 years??? will the trend slip back to brilliant, untoned coins?? will the new generation of toned coins which are viewed as unsatisfactory by the next era's collectors be the new conservation candidates??

RYK · February 23, 2006 10:09AM

I posted this in another thread:

According to Ron Guth in his recent Coin World column (Feb. 27, 2006), the craze for toned coins has come and gone before and will likely do so again.

Quoting:

"Years ago, toned silver coins were considered to be desirable and collectors often paid big premiums for them.

A short time later, the emergence of artifical toning created enough confusion in the marketplace that prices collapsed and toned coins became extremely unpopular."

If I did not know better, I would have thought he was talking about the 2005/6 coin market in 2010.

I don't mean to beat a dead horse....I'm just curious....

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