I don't know about the coatings, I generally get adequate germination from tomato seeds up to 10 years old and don't store them in any special conditions.
I was curious about the dark seeds a couple of years ago, so saved out the dark seeds from various drying seed batches and germinated them. I found that between 10-20% will germinate normally. I didn't keep any records the first time I did this, but the second time I saved seed from 12 varieties for a total of 171 dark seeds. Only 25 germinated, which is close to 14-15%. I didn't separate out the all dark seeds from the partially dark pinto seeds, so that could make a difference in which germinate. So my conclusion is that if you have a lot of seed for a variety you might as well discard them, but if it's few seeds for a rare variety doesn't hurt to give them a try.
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Dee
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