Toning vs Shine

what kind of silver coin do you guys like best? A nice shiny one with all the lustre, or a completely dark toned coin?

Personally, I love the colour silver gets when it's toned  

Toned :)

That's a perfect question.

Toned, for sure. I leave them out in the open (on my bookcase next to my beachside window) for them to darken.

Some of my old nickel-brass coins have a better "tone" to em than my actual silver ones lol !

Copper doesn't really age well unless it's very lightly circulated and escapes the dreaded green killer, verdigris.

It's almost as bad a choice as zinc or aluminium.

Thinking especially about my first love UK pennies, have you noticed how all the later, circulated Victorian copper coins have exactly the same, dark brown tone?  Bronze is much better from the point of view of the collector because it ages better even at low grades. I have bronze pennies and halfpennys which range from a rich red, to a dark gold. I like bronze coins.

Silver coins tone the best of all. I love the way they age. My favorites are the ones with the subtle yellowing around the rim and where the fields are protected by high relief areas. Some people say that's a sign of very, very old cleaning though. I don't care, I like them.

I recently bought a lot of misidentified silver coins on eBay (only bidder!) which included what some would regard as a premium coin - a 1915 Austrain Corona in absolutely mint state. I'm not sure whether to keep it or not as it is..... lifeless.

  I have this medal from 1900 that over the last 112 years has developed lovely rainbow toning ...

Citação: pnightingaleI recently bought a lot of misidentified silver coins on eBay (only bidder!) which included what some would regard as a premium coin - a 1915 Austrain Corona in absolutely mint state. I'm not sure whether to keep it or not as it is..... lifeless.

yeah I have a mint-state Finnish 50 Pennia from 1914, and even though I cannot find a single flaw on it with my loupe, I still prefer coins that I have in VF with dark toning. Here are some of my favourite toned coins:

I like both.
The original lustre of a large silver coin is luscious
and a naturally toned one has character too.
The ones I dislike are the artificially toned coins.  Basically it is adulteration and phony - yet they seem popular on E-bay.

I know! Why would anyone get excited about a baked coin or one toned with a blowtorch. I see people bidding like crazy on 10 or 20 year old coins with "monster toning". It just not possible for a coin to tone so dramatically in so short a time without some help.

I hope it's one of those passing fads which will fade away. Like those guys paying $1,000's for MS70 bullion coins which can be bought in MS69 for melt price. The difference if any can only be detected by a trained eye under extreme magnification, what's the point?

I only have a few toned silver coins, but they are naturally toned, so that makes the better!

I like an old coin that has black in the low areas and the letters and such are silver.

  Like this https://en.numista.com/catalogue/pieces6040.html

I only have a couple but then I seem to find that the copper-nickel east Africa shilling I have is much more toned than the silver one I have lol

I love it when silver coins are matt but not when they are black, and copper/bronze coins when they are 'dusty', although only with old coins.
Copper(plated)/bronze coins made in the last 40 years or so are very nice when they are still very shiny.

Uncleaned and toned, that's how I like my collection.