Fake patina and toning

[DruMAX]

I ask a question for those of you who artificially tone a coin. Do you tone them because you think they look better that way? Do you tone them to get a better price when you sell it? If you sold a coin that you had altered in this way, would you let the buyer know it has fake toning or patina? Just wondering...I am not a fan of fake toning a coin cleaned down to the metal...if it has been cleaned down to the metal, then I want to see metal...not fake toning. You dont feel this practice is deceptive, not as bad as tooling but deceptive and altering the coin? I see many coins being sold at a premium because it has 'great toning' or 'beautiful patina'...if that great toning and patina are fake...should people buying it know?

When an ancient coin was minted and it was released to circulate...it didnt have patina or toning on it. Its understandable that some coins require cleaning that might remove the patina...wouldn't it be better to leave it as is? I would think toning and fake patina is like dying a coin...maybe even harming it...just wondering what people thoughts on this are...if a coin had been artificially toned or had a fake patina...would you want to know about it before you buy it?

thanks

[Robert_Brenchley]

I sometimes use dellers because I don't like the look of raw copper on an ancient coin. Dellers is easily spotted; I won't use more sophisticated forms of artificial patina which look more like the real thing.

[curtislclay]

I regularly darken bronze coins that I have cleaned and do not consider it "deception" or "alteration".

The coin simply looks much better, and the details can be seen more clearly, if it has an even dark tone, rather than a bright metallic color or a dark tone interspersed with metallic glints.

I think that the toning imparted e.g. by sulphur paste is more or less identical to the toning the coin would acquire naturally over the years by mere exposure to the atmosphere.

[Robert_Brenchley]

It probably is in an urban environment, given the amount of sulphur in the atmosphere. The blackening of silver coins really has to be sulphide formation, so you'd expect the same thing to happen, perhaps not so conspicuously, to AE.