I have a 1987S Washington quarter, a 1987S Kennedy half and a 1988S Kennedy half that were once part of proof sets. The cases were cracked open and the other coins were removed. These 3 coins were left in the cardboard and plastic and taped closed to prevent damage. They have been “holdered” this way for about 15 years as near as I can tell. I got them out of the safe this weekend and noticed that they are beginning to acquire a bit of toning. The outer edges of all 3 coins have a “halo” of blue on both the obverse and the reverse. Inside the circle of blue, the coins are turning a light gold color.

My question is…….Is this toning artificial or natural? If the coins are left undisturbed, will the toning deepen?


Thanks,

Linda

100% natural !! Whether you leave 'em or not depends on your taste. Sure sound purrrrrty though

Obverse and reverse are equally attractive and the toning is pretty much the same on both sides. (I need to work on my photo skills again.)

That is an AMAZING Kennedy!

The type of toning shown is natural toning. Very beautiful I might add.

Gorgeous !!

Were it me - I'd stop 'em right there

I don't know to stop them???

Nice!

First step would be to remove them for the cardboard and place them in an "air-tite". It will at least slow the toning down.

Very nice coin. I agree with the airtite comment that Burks made.

All of my 1999-2006 proofsets are showing this same type of toning, almost like a frosted look moreso than tone, but it's not being stopped in the least by the mint packaging. I hate to break them open too, but the half in the 2000 and 2001 are already far gone lol. Meh. Nice half btw, that has some really nice colors to it.

I did a histogram on the picture (looking at levels of brightness/contrast) and I think the image is just a little over-exposed. i.e It should be a fraction darker with a little more contrast.

When I reduce it to correct exposure & contrast, the coins are even more beautiful.
I can upload a revised pic if you like - it's your pic so I'd better not repost without permission!.

Okay, driving me crazy. Where are the pictures??????

Using firefox and used I.E. What is happening? Ya'll keeping secrets from me?

OomPaul,

Please, feel free to repost. I'm curious to see your interpretation. I know beans about photography. All I did was point and shoot (many times to get these 2). As far as editing/photoshopping, I only resized.

According to my calculation, this should be more true-to-life.
If it's not, let me know and I'll delete.

I don't know much about originating photography but I do a lot of image adjusting as part of my job (yawn).

Combine that with proper storage ( consistent temperature, very low humidity ) - that'd do it