Artificial Toning in Auctions and Bottom-Tier Slabs

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If you can’t tell real from artificial toning, you will waste your hobby funds on coins with artificial color. Worse, you’ll find these damaged coins in bottom-tier holders with auctioneers and sellers claiming the grades and designations are genuine. Let’s look at some examples with a few tips on how to identify these doctored lots.

Morgans minted in the 1890s are avidly sought after. That is why unscrupulous sellers tone sliders, scratched and cleaned coins and/or send them to a holdering company that overlooks these issues.

Example: Is this 1890-S Morgan worth $1,250?

PCGS lists such a coin at $1,300, providing that it is housed in the company’s holder. While PCGS, CAC and NGC holdered coins are meant to be traded, sight unseen, bottom-tier holders are not sold or traded in the same way. The coin above has been anodized with a mixture of water, sulfur and sodium hydroxide. The artificial toning is so thick it is difficult to see any hairlines or scratches on this coin.

This holdering company often hypes condition and overlooks flaws and doctored toning.

The 1890-S Morgan is a relatively scarce coin with a mintage of 8,230,373. Of course, you can believe the lower-tier holder company’s description and the seller’s estimated value. But you might want to brush up on grading coins.

Some people might pay $100-150 for such a coin, but it’s worth now is basically silver because the dollar has been doctored.

Here is an eBay example in another bottom holder with the seller proclaiming “monster” toning:

You can see without magnification that the surface of the dollar exhibits wear. It, too, has artificial toning and is silver melt, not worth the exaggerated $700.

Here is a HiBid example claiming this 1890-S dollar is MS65+ trending toward $2,400.

The above coin is artificially toned and cleaned, again, in our view, worth little more now than silver melt.

Just because a coin has deep toning, that doesn’t make it desirable. Here are eBay offerings from a seller who practiced using sulfuric chemicals and heat on a roll of silver eagles.

While 18 of the 20 here are obviously artificially toned, he comes up with two that had the right combination of heat and chemicals to pass for natural toning to the untrained eye:

Now compare these to two that PCGS actually holdered.

A veteran hobbyist can tell the difference immediately. But a newer collector might not and may bid hundreds of dollars for an artificially toned coin.

To tell the difference, consider these factors:

  • Intensity: Artificial toning often involves very bright deep blues, purples, and reds. 
  • Abrupt Change in Color: Natural toning shows smooth, continuous transitions between colors.
  • Obverse/Reverse Color Distribution: Chemical treatment often produces the same color patterns on obverse and reverse whereas natural toning usually differences on both sides of the coin.
  • “Floating” Toning: The colors may look like they are sitting on top of the coin’s surface rather than being embedded into the metal. 
  • Loss of Luster: Artificial toning processes can sometimes strip the coin of its natural metallic luster, resulting in a dull, non-shiny surface. 

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