Gold tone on a drachm

[77HK77]

I purchased the attached Parthian Drachm recently. The Drachm was described as having a light gold tone, acurate under bright light, but I notice it deepens under natural light.
I have no complaint with the coin but wanted some opinions.

 The first photo is from the auction, the second I alter to give you an idea of how it looks to the eye under natural light. (I couldn't adjust my lighting to the right temp to show the deepening affect.)

Is this kind of goldish tone a natural tone or the result of some past encounter with a substance?

Should I leave it or do you find it distracting?

[Jay GT4]

This is natural although there are products that artificially tone silver.  I pull out my coins just to marvel at how they change toning over time.  Some start out iridescent and move to red then turn brownish black and then black.  I've wanted to start a gallery of how they change over time.  I think it looks beautiful and would never strip a coin of it's toning.

[77HK77]

Thanks for the comment Jay. The gold tone is growing on me each day and if natural I will keep it in place... any other opinions on the gold tone? Natural or caused by some agent?
HK

[Lloyd Taylor]

Are you sure that it is silver toning?

I ask this based on my experience with this coin  https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-60566  It was described as silver and is only documented in that metal. However, I suspected that it might be an over strike of an earlier Punic electrum issue. l tested the edge by lightly rubbing a silver cloth against a small area of the coin edge.  This would remove any tone.  Surprise... the gold color did not disappear indicating that it was inherent in the metal of the coin  rather than limited to surface tone. This suggested a mix of gold and silver i.e. electrum.  I think I have tracked down the earlier Punic denomination which would be the base of the over strike.

Like your coin, my Punic coin changes intensity of gold color dependent on lighting conditions.  This reflects the fact that coin is dominantly silver and the gold content is probably around 12-15%. The coin on which I believe it was over struck attracted the comment from Sear that "The gold content of these coins is so low that they can be easily mistaken for silver."

I know nothing of the Parthian series, so I cannot comment directly on this possibility for your coin.  However, the coin looks to be in low grade electrum rather than silver as the "gold tone" is uniformly present and consistent, suggesting it may be metal content rather than tone that is giving the gold color. Test a small area of the coin edge by cleaning as indicated to test wether it is superficial gold color (tone) or in the metal itself.

[77HK77]

Lloyd
It's an interesting idea but I will not have a chance over next week or two to investigate. When I do I'll respond
Thanks HK

[77HK77]

Lloyd T
Sorry for the delay in responding - amazing how two weeks can quickly expand to six!!!

I clean and edge - It is silver under the gold tone.

I plan to leave the tone as is. It's amazing how people gravitate to the gold color.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Ferric iron from the soil can give silver a golden tone.