Color on Silver Coins
By Neil Berman

Color on silver coins come in three basic categories.  Silver coins come white, toned, and “rainbow,” which is toned but with the full spectrum of colors. It is those rainbow colors that create tremendous eye appeal, and thus a separate collecting category. Color or lack of color is one of the key issues that is subject to change as collectors change what is in fashion to collect.
 
Today, an original white or bright white coin is in high demand. The frosted or prooflike fields and/or devices are completely devoid of any color, and this look is one of the most popular with silver coin collectors today, particularly dollar collectors. Directly after manufacture, original coins were stored in original bags at the mint or at reserve banks. But if they came into possession of a numismatist or coin collector early enough after minting, many were put into paper twenty-coin roles. These original coins can stay white by having been stored in those original roles for decades. While the coins that are loose in bags or on the end of the roles will almost always tone in some manor, those in the center of the role may not. This is almost always the source of most original untoned silver coins.

When it comes to natural toning, the coins run the gamut from natural white (which is no tone at all) to extremely dark brown or black. Coins that are toned but with no particular color (for example gray, off light brown, spotty, partially or irregularly toned but with no particular eye appeal), are out of fashion with today’s collectors. Coins out of favor or fashion can be difficult to sell. However when they do, they bring no premium at all and can bring a discount if they are unattractive enough, even though they are still completely original. While the darker coins trade at a discount, the dark brown or black coins can often be nearly impossible to sell at all. This is because they may be downgraded at the grading services for the awfully unattractive coin under the color; or worse, they may not be graded at all and be considered environmentally damaged if the color has leached or eaten into the coin’s surface.

 The dark or black silver coins may sometimes be conserved by an expert. Properly cleaning a dark coin does not damage the coin or lower its value, although some dark coins cannot be cleaned, which leaves the owner paying for the conservation service, with no results for his effort at all. Actually it is a fact that if the underlying coin’s surface is undamaged under the dark color, the conservation or cleaning often may actually increase the value of the coin when it is done correctly by an expert.

“Rainbow” colored coins, when they are attractive to the eye, are reasonably rare and very desirable and, in today’s market, very much in demand. At a good auction, one that has been properly advertised and is well attended, these rainbow specimens of the mint master’s art can bring unbelievable prices. For example, an original 1887 Morgan silver dollar in MS66, (original white or original lightly toned) can be had at any coin show and sells for between three hundred fifty and four hundred dollars wholesale, while an amazingly beautiful original rainbow toned coin of the same date and condition just sold for $12,650 at the July 21st Superior Galleries of Beverly Hills Santa Clara Elite Rare Coin Auction.