That coin is off the net. The microscope that i have used was bought on eBay from China/Hong Kong, its plugged into the comp and is ok, i guess but not the best and not really what i was after. It cost less than $40 delivered and magnifies up to 30+ from memory - it can take images or video - but with taking photos of the coins you have to focus the objective and you can take clear images only AT THAT MAGNIFICATION - if you move it away for a smaller mag it becomes blurry
Nice toning on the Thaler..A coin I have yet to get.. Finally got my act together and took these.As usual,my gear and talent does not really show the colour well.but you get the gist of these. 1922 Peace Silver Dolllar 1879 0 mint Morgan silver Dollar .The colour is amazing in the right light.Irridescent blue/green with splashes of rust red.Looks like she has been in a knife fight 1948 5 Peso Silver .The Cuauhtemoc. 1945 1 peso Silver 1946 20 Centavos in Copper .Purple overtones here ,that do not come through well enough.
Matrix .What you are referring to is the "Phrygian Cap"..or Liberty cap.The symbol of Mexico's struggle for independance from it's overlords ,the Spanish. I do like your observation ,though. UFO's and Mexico..Roswell and all that. Who knows?
Cannot see the fascination in looking at "RUST" after all that's what toning is - oxides, sulphides, nitrates or other compounds making a type of rust - whatever pollutant managed to chemically mate with the silver or other coin impurities. If you want to see nice coloured toning put a drop of light oil or gasoline on a container of water and view at an angle in bright sunlight. Drop all the artistic jargon about how romantic the discolouration of silver bullion coins can be as this most likely suggests the coin was was poorly stored, surface contaminated by chemicals leeching out of a wrapper or container or exposed to fumes especially tobacco smoke. I like silver to be shiny not looking like it was buried in horse manure.
better late than never so they say, first time uploading images, see how we go........ 1991 Perth Mint 5oz calander
Ahem ..who asked you,anyway? Great colour on the Calender,Kilo. Even the box has a nice speckledy tone!
I half agree with photonaware but sometimes tarnishing can be beautiful and collector sought after the good tarnished ones...i nearly cleaned my 37 crown but in the nick of time i went online and found out that cleaning isn't really good for coins
This thread seems to have hit the wall somewhat Time to revive the corpse Not exactly in line with the toning theme ,but these do have some toning ,all the same. I have taken an interest in Medallions,specifically the French revival period of around the late 18th and early 19th century.The most famous designer of these was Louis Oscar Roty. I guess you could call them romantic revivals.I particularly like the Art Nouveau styles These four are all about 35 mm diameter. Different metals Louis O Roty.Silver .Generally called a "Marianne" The symbol of French Independence from the Monarchy. .900 fine circa 1900 Another Marianne.In Bronze. A Rivet 1898 Louis O Roty ,again.In copper ,gold plated. 1898 In Bronze (or perhaps Brass) Artist unknown . circa 1910 The reverse of all four.Medallion in bottom right is the gold clad copper .You can see copper coming through.Possibly the result of some idiot attempting to clean it
I have seen these medallions at Boyou's place - one advantage that medallions have over coins is their strikes - a lot deeper and more pronounced - they are 3D. the diff from the lowest to the highest point is maybe around 3mm See you laters at the meet
Yes ,Thucy.A very important point.Medallions are generally moulded ,not struck as coins are. The process is more akin to sculpture than coining.Two moulds are joined together and metal poured in. Looking forward to the Big meet.
I visited my local coin dealer at the markets today. Found this lightly toned beauty. 1757 French Ecu. Silver .917 pure... Crown size. From the Wiki Edit: The wiki shows a coin with different mintmark.The mark below the obverse on mine looks like a duck...perhaps it quacks like a duck? ..must be a duck,then Will look into the duck more....... http://www.coinfactswiki.com/wiki/France_1757-Pau_ecu
An adendum on the whole toned coin "thing" I was talking about my liking for toning on coins today with a friend.She doesn't "get" toning at all. "But why should a coin have any greater value because it shows the marks of it's age?" she asked. "Because those marks display it's journey...even rim dings and scratches..they "authenticate " it (as long as the provenance supports it) " I replied. "Would a Perth Mint dragon be as authentic,if it had such toning and a few dings" She asked "Time will tell" I replied. And so endeth the lesson
I'm sure if you handed your stack of coins to a local school's chemistry class they could produce some wonderful tones by dipping them in all sorts of chemicals and heating them. Has anyone tried silver on the barbeque ? That would produce some nice colouration. I think silver should shine and I cannot see why anyone would want to see shiny silver turn brown or dark due to pollution from carbon & sulphur or organics leeching from plastic bags or containers.
I like the toning... but I remember a small piece of advice I was given yrs ago... silver is very thirsty. Once you clean it, it tones much faster and needs more cleaning, which rubs off a small layer of silver.... Let's not rub off the Shiny Stuff!
Nice French Ecu Coin - Was checking it out in Krause Yours is either KM # 564.1 or KM # 563 ( pages 199 & 200 in the 1701-1800 Krause edition ) Regards the Mint mark - check page 151 - 154 of the catalog - there are many different ones - and your one is located on page 154 and is from the Lille Mint and is called " The Heron ". Nice looking coin. And yeah regards the previous posts about silver being shiny - i agree , silver coins are most beautiful when they are the shiniest - however OLDER coins, have stories behind them - and sometimes the toning looks beautiful and makes the coin more unique.
Thanks for the info ,Thucy. Since my recent virus attack,I have not been able to get my comp to read Krause CD Rom. Working on it... Perhaps certain coins are more appealing if bright and shiny ,but I find some designs ,especially if the strike is not deep are more defined by the toning on their fields.
