Toning

[Harv]

I love colorful toned coins. Will the encapsulation of a coin (PCGS,NGC) prevent further toning? I don't want to deter the toning process.

[mhonzell]

Welcome!!

It depends on how well the encapsulation is sealed.
In most cases, the toning process will stop.

Older encapsulation types were more subject to "leakage" resulting in some toning/tarnish, but today's holders are about as inert as possible and you won't see much toning during your lifetime.

[Daniel]

I have seen toning in holders but that's usually because of where the coins were stored. You can never under estimate the ability of molecules still trapped around the coin's encapsulated chamber but if you don't store them in a high heat or humid environment then your coins would be safer in a holder.

[Paul]

I have seen toning in holders but that's usually because of where the coins were stored. You can never under estimate the ability of molecules still trapped around the coin's encapsulated chamber but if you don't store them in a high heat or humid environment then your coins would be safer in a holder.

:welcome:
:agree: D

[dipper13]

Most toning comes from exposure to acid in paper or cardboard or cloth ,such as bags. The longer the exposure, the more a coin will tone , even after it is slabbed. A friend bought a bag of 1883 O dollars in 1961. They were bank wrapped. I bought a roll from him. He paid $1050 for 1000 silver dollars! My roll had toning on the ends. I will post, NGC graded them. They toned a bit more after slabbing. Unless they tone ugly black, the value only increases.

[dipper13]

Most toning comes from exposure to acid in paper or cardboard or cloth ,such as bags. The longer the exposure, the more a coin will tone , even after it is stabbed. A friend bought a bag of 1883 O dollars in 1961. They were bank wrapped. I bought a roll from him. He paid $1050 for 1000 silver dollars! My roll had toning on the ends. I will post, NGC graded them. They toned a bit more after stabbing. Unless they tone ugly black, the value only increases.

[Paul]

i'm trying to type out a more detailed 'toning' response here...but my bad eye is giving me troubles.
so i will pick away at the response, & post asap.

[Paul]

Coin Toning:
I suppose a ‘better, more in-depth’ explanation is due here….

So, let’s break it down. ‘What’ is coin toning? In a word, it’s ‘tarnishing’….. The variable dis-colorization of metal from its original molecular base visible spectrum, is due to the surrounding substrates or reagents. This means that, whatever the coin is ‘exposed to’ will change the ‘color of’ the coin. The tarnishing colors, or “toning”, as numistmists call it, depends directly upon the “planchet make-up, & the chemical(s) it is exposed to”. By the way, this whole topic is very complicated,….so this is just some foundation. Since we know coins are struck from ‘raw planchets’, & those planchets are ‘punched out’ from a long flat coil, & the ‘coil’ is a strip of flat wound up metal, & the ‘strip’ (coil stock) of metal is made by repetitively compressing (rolling out) these rectangular flat bars thinner & thinner, & that ‘bar stock’ is made from a %this & %that of the ‘metal composition’ used for that particular coin,….one can deduce that,….. 2 separate coins, struck on the same day, with exactly the same procedure, on the same press, under identical conditions,… but from “different raw planchet stock”, WILL NOT, under the “exact identical controlled laboratory toning conditions”, have the same color(s).

Of course, ‘toning’ is a natural process. Quickness, % surface area, depth, pattern(s), & colors, are determined by “the immediate surrounding environment”. ‘What’ is the reason for a coin to ‘change color’?....as there are ‘3 types of toning’ your eye can see in the visible spectrum. The “Surface tone” type, is a colorization of accumulated foreign surface compounds (not the metal itself). “Planchet tone”, is the ‘change’ of the metal substrate itself… &, “Force toned”, where a coins color is “intentionally altered”, using various methods to “speed up” the toning process. Learning how to recognize these different types, WILL help in your ‘on-line’ purchasing of “raw”, as well as “graded” coins. There are some experts, I mean “true experts” out there, that are so good, many of these ‘force toned’ coins get “graded”… as it’s called, because the ‘graders’ are flash looking at them with only 5x loupe (at most). I can go on here with the how/what/why/when, but want to stay ‘on topic’.

So, if the question is: will a coin continue the toning process, after it is ‘in a slab’, or “encapsulated”? From what we have learned so far, we can see that when you ‘remove’ the source of whatever is causing the transformation, the so called continued ‘toning’ should be halted, right? You would think so. But we know that when these coins are “sealed up”, the ambient air in that area, at that time, becomes trapped also…..so that very minimal, about negligible, amount of ‘sealed in air’, will continue to react with the coin/metal…on a very small level. Now, in relation to a coin becoming ‘sealed within an airtite’ container…. one should consider ‘what’, if any, can/will be, “influencing factors” than can/may ‘alter’ the coins surface from present day, to a future date….50 years?, 100 years?, 250 years? After all, that is the primary reason to ‘seal it up’, of the 4 reasons to encapsulate a coin. Any type of ‘foreign substance’, for example, from a ‘sulfer mis-handle’, to ‘finger oils’, over time, will continue to ‘react’ on a molecular basis…until those different interactive compounds become depleted through their interaction, & are then considered ‘chemically inert’.

I do not have, & have never seen a 100+ year old “slab”….. but I can assume from the information/knowledge I have learned, that a coin will continue to ‘breakdown’ on a metallurgical basis, over a long period of time.

So…… anywhoo, back to your question. Obviously, at some point in the ‘toning process’, you will want to stop the progression, before it becomes dark & ugly. At that point, you will want to ‘submit’ the coin for encapsulation….& because “grade” is a matter of ‘eye appeal to that grader’, what “grade #” you get, is really meaningless. So ‘sealing it up’, at that desired time you think it is prettiest, will, in all respects, keep it that color, at least as close to as possible, for a long long time. If you seal it up before the ‘desired toning’, DO NOT expect a coin to “color up” in a slab.