Rare coin toning or also called patina. Patina is a thin layer that variously forms on the surface of copper, silver, and brass through age and exposure. When a copper coin comes out of the mint, it has a bright copper color and looks bright. Over time, oxygen, or any kind of gas element will get attached to the coin and it will actually change the color to a dark brown or black or even green.
This color change can take many many years or decades. As an example, David Bowers a very well-known numismatist in the coin industry, had a coin that he put it into a drawer of a brand-new oak side table. He had forgotten about the coin for quite sometime. When he remembered and went to look at the coin, it had blue toning. So that's a perfect example of what you would call toning or patina a coin. Toning could actually happen in just a few months depending on the harshness of the gas vapor environment that the coin is in. A brand new piece of wood furniture, such as an oak side table with a drawer, can have more than enough staining and finish on the wood that produces gas vapor that will tone metal.
Another example of toning patina is America's Statue of Liberty. The Statue Liberty is an all copper scupture. It took about 30 years for the whole statue to turn green, which is the color that it is today. That is patina.
There are many rare coin collectors that are very careful when storing their rare coins. If you don't want your rare coins to have toning, be sure to keep them in a non-pvc coin holder. This will protect and keep them as original color.
The next time you're looking at a coin and you notice it's brown,or blue, or black, or green, or sometines even red, or a mix of all colors, relize the coin was not that color when it was made. It was actually bright copper, silver or bronze color and the chemical reaction that takes place makes toning or patina that has been formed on the surface. Usually over several years of being out in the elements.
And if your looking to buy or sell more rare coins, remember to check out land the coins.com if you want to buy and sell your coins at auction with no final value fees. Save money because it's only fifteen dollars a month to buy and sell an unlimited amount of rare coins. Thanks for reading this rare coin article and scoll down to see more articles from Land of Coins .com.
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