Haven't seen one of these for a while, do you remember when they were all the rage??

keets · February 5, 2012 1:00PM

I recall when these first hit the market, they seemed to be all over the place and even had a neat "Provenance" attached to them. Several dealers had them litterally by the dozens at the Baltimore ANA and they were selling, well, like hot-cakes!!! I seem to recall the higher graded ones such as this selling past $200 and collectors seemed eager to pay it. Then PCGS stopped grading them, NGC stopped grading them, and almost as fast as the coins and the story hit the Hobby they faded away. Oh, there was still the periodic US Coin Forum thread about one or the BST offering, but everybody seemed to be of one mind that the origin was....................suspect.

Does anyone still have a similar example laying around or a story to share??

Al H.

Sonorandesertrat · February 5, 2012 1:06PM

I love toned coins---I bought a bunch of the Sonnier Morgans. But...I wouldn't have coins like that in my collection. If I am not sure that the toning is real, then I pass.

braddick · February 5, 2012 1:10PM

Those were interesting times.
During this period I picked up a few raw toned coins from eBay and sent this Jefferson to PCGS where it was promptly returned in a Code91, appropriate slab:

19Lyds · February 5, 2012 2:56PM

Haven't they stopped grading the 2001-P Experimental Rinse Sacagawea Dollar's?

Nooker · February 5, 2012 3:05PM

I remember when I read about cooking these in the oven. I have a few nice ones that came out after 2 hours at 400 deg F !

Mark

nwcoast · February 5, 2012 3:15PM

You would never find anything like that in nature....
Nature being either a mint bag, circulation, a drawer, an old sock.... so I would never seek one out....
Just my opinion... I guess they'd be cool to oogle at if you were tripping on acid...

stman · February 5, 2012 3:15PM

Yeah, I recall these. One of the so-called dealers would say on the BST you could pick your color Heh Heh. I also recall many were sent to this very same seller that you linked. I don't remember the story, but have no doubt there was one....... there usually is right?

frnklnlvr · February 5, 2012 6:04PM

What's the story with these? PCGS and NGC must have thought they were NT at one time.

georgiacop50 · February 5, 2012 11:00PM

Something about passing thru the digestive tract of MadMarty's chicken....

Cameonut · February 5, 2012 11:19PM

I'll man up and admit that I actually bought one of those nickels. A 1955 PR68 - electric purple. The story was that it sat in a storefront window and got toned that way. I bit on it, more because I liked the color - and after all, it was in a PCGS holder which lent some credibility to it being NT. Plus, it was an earlier '50's nickel and not the "run of the mill" 1964.

I consider it a part of my numismatic education and kinda wish to sell it or let PCGS review it. (Sorry - no pics, but it is electric purple)

MadMarty · February 5, 2012 11:23PM

<< Something about passing thru the digestive tract of MadMarty's chicken.... >>

Come on now don't blame it on the chicken!!! I did have quite a few of these in cellos, proof sets bought when I was a kid and stored for 35-40 years in my dads attic. The dealer that submitted them also mixed in a bunch of cooked ones and tainted the whole batch. After that they would get bagged every time, so I brought 2 sealed ones to an ANA and handed them to HRH, asked them if he would inspect them and they were slabbed.

ricko · February 5, 2012 11:28PM

I have seen blue ones in mint cello... did not buy them (Russ pointed one out at a Kirkland show once). Never cared for colored coins.. but I guess y'all know that...

Cheers, RickO

ModernCoin · February 5, 2012 11:35PM

<< Come on now don't blame it on the chicken!!! I did have quite a few of these in cellos, proof sets bought when I was a kid and stored for 35-40 years in my dads attic. The dealer that submitted them also mixed in a bunch of cooked ones and tainted the whole batch. After that they would get bagged every time, so I brought 2 sealed ones to an ANA and handed them to HRH, asked them if he would inspect them and they were slabbed. >>

Were the "NT" examples that you had as wildly colored as the example provided by keets above?

shorecoll · February 6, 2012 12:52AM

There was a dealer in the town I grew up in who left coins in a store window in 2x2's in direct sunlight for decades (imagine doing that today)...and had some strange colors, but nothing like these neons.

coindeuce · February 6, 2012 1:04AM

There is a dealer on the show circuit who boasted of being the best nickel doctor in the world. His work flooded the market, and when it became common knowledge to the TPG's, the reaction was not favorable to the market.

MadMarty · February 6, 2012 2:33AM

<< 

<< Come on now don't blame it on the chicken!!! I did have quite a few of these in cellos, proof sets bought when I was a kid and stored for 35-40 years in my dads attic. The dealer that submitted them also mixed in a bunch of cooked ones and tainted the whole batch. After that they would get bagged every time, so I brought 2 sealed ones to an ANA and handed them to HRH, asked them if he would inspect them and they were slabbed. >>

Were the "NT" examples that you had as wildly colored as the example provided by keets above? >>

No, no NEON colors, but some bright blue's and purple's and a lot of ones that were just Meh...

pontiacinf · February 6, 2012 2:41AM

I had a few but when they robbed my house that was one of the few books taken-now I have none

Lakesammman · February 6, 2012 3:21AM

Recall attending a seminar about that time at the ANA where the speaker basically said, anythings possible (re: NT).

ambro51 · February 6, 2012 3:21AM

they are Hot for sure.

I think about 620 degrees does the trick

Twinturbo · February 6, 2012 3:40AM

I heard it was several coin docs working togther.
Only time ive seen them close to neon, was a batch of proofsets that survived a fire. The silver was toasted, the cents lacked all color, however the nickels had some nice toning, some areas were neon. Most of the nickels were but ugly. Only 10% showed neon toning on some areas.
Overall I think the coin docs had a good run on these ones.

Unknown · February 6, 2012 5:58AM

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keets · February 6, 2012 7:04AM

I haven't done this, but have seen a batch of two dozen sets so treated

ah, yes, this is the basis of most good "Urban Legends" and AT coin hoard stories. typically, they always lack first hand knowledge!!!

what i will contribute regarding Toned Proof Jefferson Nickels is that they do in fact tone in the intact cello packaging but never as vividly and evenly "colored" as the eBay coin i linked, at least not that i've seen. they often tone in varying shades where the devices that touch the cello can be one color and the fields which don't touch the cello will be another color/shade.

i believe it was the 2002 or 2003 Baltimore ANA where these first appeared. in hindsight, some of the dealers who were selling them(some forum members, also) and the story about where they came from should have clued us all in on their suspicious nature. the market at the time was flooded with Pretty Coins, Pretty Names and Prettier Stories. two that come to mind are the Peacock Ike Dollars and the Appalachian Hoard of Jefferson Nickels while a certain Chicago area dealer was having fun with Buffalo Nickels and early Proof Jeffs. they were indeed heady days and i'm grateful to have been a witness to it all, both for the fun and accumulative knowledge which sprung forth about AT and Coin Doctors at this site.

but back to that eBay Nickel?? who else cares to fess up on getting sucked in by them??

Edscoin · February 6, 2012 10:27AM

<< but back to that eBay Nickel?? who else cares to fess up on getting sucked in by them?? >>

Heck I bid ten bucks on this one!

rhedden · February 6, 2012 10:58AM

I bought a couple of wild colored proof Jeffersons like these back in 1992. Paid 25 cents each for them- 1961 and 1962. I don't know if anyone knew how to AT them that far back, when there was little financial motivation to do so. I am suspicious that it actually is possible for naturally toned nickel coins like these to exist. That being said, the blue coin in the OP looks very artificial.

Unknown · February 8, 2012 4:42AM

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baccaruda · February 8, 2012 4:52AM

I collected and sold a ton of proof Jeffs for a while. Probably went through a few hundred proof rolls from '60-'64. Who knows how many proof sets where the nickel was toned. Found lots of toned ones. Blues, golds, purples, two-color, three-color, some where the field is a different tone than the bust giving it a cool cameo effect. The colors they toned naturally were readily identifiable and nothing was too far from the norm. Sold a lot here and on eBay.

Then, "those" started appearing. I'll just say that from what I've seen they're anything but natural - especially when one person has a box of 200 of them.

baccaruda · February 8, 2012 5:08AM

This is what natural ones look like:

Here's one gsaguy gave me - best one I've ever seen (PCGS PR66 I think):

CarlWohlforth · February 8, 2012 5:34AM

I bought a roll of them, raw, right at the beginning. I got a few slabbed no problem. Next try all were rejected.

I also liked the Appalachian hoard of nickels. They also had dollars and other stuff but mostly nickels. They were released slowly and expensively. I had one pass through my hands. Never did completely believe the story of them getting toned by being stored in coffee cans in the moist Kentucky environment, perhaps mixed with a few shotgun shells (or not).

That one was in an NGC * holder. Powdery pastel colors, mostly war nickels, some nice variations.

Unknown · February 8, 2012 7:02AM

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WoodenJefferson · February 8, 2012 7:20AM

2nd hand maybe 3rd hand information and not from the horses mouth, but heresy says a few of these started appearing, holdered and sent back to the submitter. It was as though they were testing the waters just to see what would happen and were apparently pleased with the results so here they came, en-mass.

Since the majority were coming from one area (Chicago) and usually the bulk through one submitter, the flag went up and these neon nickles were closely looked at. It could not be determined if they were blatant AT or not so they were returned in body bags and the fees retained. This was enough for the submissions to stop but they tried the grading company ATS and the same consequences occurred.

I have found quite a few toned nicles in proof sets, but nothing ever like the wild neon colors depicted.

Haven't seen one of these for a while, do you remember when they were all the rage??

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