Black Smoke Maine Coon: Midnight Over Silver

What makes a black smoke Maine Coon, how smoke differs from solid black and silver, why kittens declare themselves late, and what breeders charge.

By Nora

Published August 20, 2026Updated August 27, 2026 3 min read

Photo: Rupsengod · CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

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At rest, a black smoke Maine Coon passes for solid black. Then the cat turns, the long coat parts, and a pale, silvery undercoat flashes through like light under a door. That two-layer trick, dark tips over a pale root, is the whole magic of the smoke family, and on no breed does it play better than on one with this much coat to part. Every major registry recognizes it, and the UK's registers smoke classes right alongside the solids.

Black smokeblack tips over a pale, silvery undercoat

Smoke, silver, shaded: where black smoke sits

The pale-undercoat family comes in depths. The registries' structure runs from chinchilla (the lightest tipping) through shaded (moderate) to smoke (the deepest, where most of each hair is colored and only the base is pale). Black smoke is the deepest version worn over black. The same structure exists over other colors: a blue smoke wears it over gray, and breeders' lists often name blue smoke and blue silver at the top of their pricing. One caution from the standards themselves: flags "tarnishing," a brownish cast, as a fault in silver-family cats, its way of saying a clean smoke is an achievement.

Black smoke or solid black? The part test

Step 1: part the coat

down to the skin, in daylight; ask the breeder to do it unprompted

Step 2: read the roots

a pale, almost white base = smoke; black at the root = solid black

Kittens complicate it: the smoke undercoat develops as the adult coat grows in, so a kitten registered black can reveal smoke months later, and a promising smoke kitten can mature subtler than hoped. If the smoke matters to you, ask to see the parents' coats.

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What does a black smoke Maine Coon cost?

Smoke sits at the theatrical end of breeder price lists in our August 2026 research:

Blue smoke, live listing

£1,650

a -registered, ID-verified "outstanding blue smoke Maine Coon boy" on the UK's biggest marketplace, upper band for registered kittens that day

Smoke with white, top of list

CA$2,500

an Ontario cattery priced its smokes-with-white at the very top of its own list

Neither figure travels between countries: a price is only real in its own market, and the full four-market picture, named and dated, is on the price page.

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The vet's take

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Frequently asked questions

How much is a black smoke Maine Coon?

Frequently top-of-list for its seller: named August 2026 examples include a CA$2,500 Ontario smoke-with-white and a £1,650 UK blue smoke listing. Market-by-market ranges: price page.

Are black smoke Maine Coons rare?

No registry ranks colors by rarity. What the standards do say is that a clean, untarnished smoke is hard to breed, which is the honest reason they read as special.

Do black smoke kittens look black at first?

Often, yes. The pale undercoat develops with the adult coat, so the part test (pale at the root) settles it as the cat matures.

Is a black smoke the same as a black silver tabby?

No: smoke is the pale undercoat under a SOLID coat, while a silver tabby wears it under tabby striping. Same family, different upper layer.

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This is information, not veterinary advice, and it cannot tell you what is wrong with your cat. Our rule is a simple one: if something is wrong with your cat, call your vet, and call an emergency clinic if it is out of hours. Nothing you read here is a reason to wait.

Medical information applies to every reader. Prices, legal duties and common practice do not: unless stated otherwise, they are given for the United States, and they differ in the UK, Canada and Australia, and often between states or provinces. Check with your own vet and your own local authority.

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Black Smoke Maine Coon: Midnight Over Silver

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