Above is a cleaned and retoned Morgan dollar that also has significant flaws, including scratches on the cheek area, a prominent place for deductions in grading.

This was offered in an eBay auction as a monster rainbow coin. It does have that natural rainbow of gold, amber, red, green and blue hues. But those probably occurred after the 1883-O Morgan dollar was dipped and placed in an album long ago.

My new hobby book, Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding, has a section on such flaws, including cleaned and retoned coins. Here is an excerpt:

Cleaned and Retoned

Some cleaned silver coins retone in rainbow colors. But the coin still won’t grade. The colors will be drab with no luster. This coin is a perfect example. You still may want the coin. Just bid low and don’t fret if someone else wins it.

If you like posts like this, subscribe so you can be informed whenever there is a new article or column.

Proxiblog also has hundreds of followers on Facebook Coin Groups. To get the latest discussion and commentary, be sure to friend us by clicking here.

You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.