artificial toning

OK, I mentioned this in the coin doctoring thread, but I think it's worthy of its own thread. (Right Ms. Maya? )

Here is a looooooong discussion on artificial toning, starting with an article about what to look for: www.cointalk.com/t28465/

And and even loooonger incident...a guy who got caught artificially toning coins...that were slabbed: forums.collectors.com/messageview.cfm?ca...5409&highlight_key=y

Juicy reading...

Hi Mary Elise

Artificial toning is another form of "coin doctoring"....PCGS and NGC would never slab such a coin. I see coins of this nature for sale (usually "raw" or un-slabbed) at almost every single coin show I attend. Coins like these are to be avoided like the plague...unless of course a collector would want one for example purposes only.

Genuine beautiful toning...now that's another story!

the drummer

The story is that the coins were toned after being slabbed. Not fake slabs or raw coins. PCGS is mentioned, so I'll see if they reference this anywhere on their site.

The grading of coins is more of an art than a science. No doubt there are some artificially toned coins in PCGS, NGC or ANACS slabs. This is because there is no consistent way of detecting them. Sinilarly among collectors and dealers, you will never get unanimous agreement whether certain types of toning on a coin is artificial [AT] or natural [NT].

I got some responses from people at Coin Talk about the AT incident. Note because this part it is super-important...

The coins were doctored...WHILE IN THE SLABS!

Here's the thread so far: www.cointalk.com/t194825/ . Hoping for more responses.

Hi Mary Elise

A T coins in slabs....that's bad to hear of...from what I understand, PCGS and NGC are more than ever watchful these days about allowing this sort of thing but I suppose coins like this can slip through once in a while...more so probably in the past, so yes, I now know that they are out there.
This knowledge offers further proof that we as collectors must educate ourselves to these facts...all this serves as an example to me personally why I never spend my hard-earned $$ on EBay coins or "sight-unseen" coins...for these ever important purchasing decisions I employ a trusted, knowledgeable dealer who knows a lot more about this than I do.
Everyone makes mistakes, however, coin purchase mistakes can often be very costly ones.
How does the old saying go? "Let the buyer beware!"

the drummer