The top 4 things you consider before....

Comments

• BillJones Posts: 34,773 ✭✭✭✭✭

  March 3, 2012 10:37PM

  1. The toning appears to be “into” the coin, and not lying on top of the surface. I know this is a subtlety, but it’s the kind of thing you note after you have looked a lot of coins for a many years … or you are sort of numismatic savant with an innate ability.
  
  2. The colors are not outlandishly brilliant. Yes, there are some natural colors that are bright, but they are not what the experienced eye would call garish.
  
  3. Natural color tends to be darker at the edges and grow lighter toward the centers.
  
  4. Absence of white areas on silver coins that some collectors and dealers call “milk spots.” This is not 100% fool proof, but it’s part of the mix.
  

  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 ... ?

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• golfer72 Posts: 3,588

  March 3, 2012 11:41PM

  "Absence of white areas on silver coins that some collectors and dealers call “milk spots.” This is not 100% fool proof, but it’s part of the mix. " Absence of milk spots on which coins, the artificially toned or the naturally toned?
  
  

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• BillJones Posts: 34,773 ✭✭✭✭✭

  March 4, 2012 12:10AM

  
  
  << <i>"Absence of white areas on silver coins that some collectors and dealers call “milk spots.” This is not 100% fool proof, but it’s part of the mix. " Absence of milk spots on which coins, the artificially toned or the naturally toned? >>
  
  
  
  "Milk spots" can be indication of artificial color.

  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 ... ?

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• ambro51 Posts: 13,945 ✭✭✭✭✭

  March 4, 2012 12:53AM

  Age. How do those ASEs get natural vivid rainbow color in six years???

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• BillJones Posts: 34,773 ✭✭✭✭✭

  March 4, 2012 12:59AM

  
  
  << <i>Age. How do those ASEs get natural vivid rainbow color in six years??? >>
  
  
  
  Actually it might take less time that you think. Many years ago a coin club gave me a new Silver Eagle for speaking at their club. It came in one of those blue, fuzzy holders you can buy to house them. About six months later I took the coin out of the holder and the reverse had toned quite nicely. Hoping for a repeat performance I flipped the coin over. The obverse toned a little, but not as much. I guess it was just an example of getting the right contaminate that produced the “right color.”

  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 ... ?

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• Baley Posts: 22,663 ✭✭✭✭✭

  March 4, 2012 1:06AM

  What would be the top 4 things you look at when making the determination NT vs AT
  
  the first thing I would do is realize that it's not a binary question of either/or, where the answer is a Fact, but instead a spectrum of coin appearance and likelihood of the color occurring, for that type of coin, and a judgement of the degree to which the color was imparted intentionally.
  
  the second thing I consider is the age of the coin. Rainbow toning on a recent coin is going to have to have quite a "story" to explain itself.
  
  the third thing is the context of the coin. a group of coins with similar toning is going to be suspect, again, unless there's a credible "story" and even then ??
  
  the final thing is the appearance of the coin itself, and where it falls in my own spectrum of opinion. Most of the "rainbow" toning I see posted is highly questionable imo.

  Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry

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• TomB Posts: 22,070 ✭✭✭✭✭

  March 4, 2012 3:10AM

  1. Experience.
  
  2. Experience.
  
  3. Experience.
  
  4. Experience.
  
  I realize this answer might make me a Richard Cranium, but experience and analytical reasoning rule the day when it comes to this topic. That means lots of learning and looking. I wouldn't be able to list one or two attributes for you to adequately convey certain qualities.

  Thomas Bush Numismatics & Numismatic Photography
  
  In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
  
  

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• Justacommeman Posts: 22,852 ✭✭✭✭✭

  March 4, 2012 3:15AM

  Man, TomB beat me to the punch. Not unusual.
  
  Know your series. MJ

  Walker Proof Digital Album
  Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......

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