Are milk spots inevitable on most silver bullion, proofs and rounds?
Hallco
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It seems like this is a real problem based on threads I have been reading.
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Most of my silver is junk silver and ASE's. I have not had that problem.
Not a major problem on my end....just a minor occasional nuisance. That holds true to all .999 silver bullion coins. I have never seen a 90% silver coin with milk spot.
No. out of hundreds/thousands of SAEs/rounds over the last 15 years, I think I have seen milkspots on less than a dozen....and most of those came to me in the secondary market. The ones I got straight from the mint, or in rolls when released, have generally been milkspot free.
I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment
I hate milk spots !!!
This is good to know. Thanks
I have a lot of Mint ASE's and no milk spots. Yes, it is a problem... but it seems not every coin develops milk spots. Also, a tip I had when this problem became an issue, was to rinse all new mint silver in acetone. I have no idea if this is valid, however, I have no milk spots. Cheers, RickO
Last I checked, I didn’t have any on my ASEs. With that said... I have rolls that haven’t been opened in a decade. I open the tube to give them a look when I receive them, then they just sit there and look pretty.
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From my observations, they seem to show themselves within a year of the coin being minted. I have two pandas, 1993 and 2013. The 2013 is in an NGC Early Releases slab and still shows none whatsoever. I believe it is stable at this point. (the 93 is also clean)
Back in 2016 however, I got a slabbed Panda early in the year.... It was clean at first, but by the fall of that year there were several!
I got rid of that one and will only buy them with a couple of years track record now. Same for eagles.
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Canada gets the milk spots off coins
http://www.numismaticnews.net/buzz/canada-gets-milk-spots-off-coins
Nice! I want to buy some bullion for 2018(the year I came back to collecting)! Guess I will be looking at some RCM stuff!
It states it will fight milk spots, time will tell.
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I thought milk spots were special white toning. LoL
It's crazy how popularity and conformity weigh trends in this industry. Quickly advertised perception is noteworthy and well known.
spots on silver bullion do not affect their value as bullion. Clean or dirty, silver is silver.
Any additional numismatic value will be affected by spots.
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I'll never buy a 70 ASE ever again, unless it's melt. If you make a 70 at a TPG get rid rid of it as soon as possible. Weird how I have ASE's in NGC plastic, snap fit holders, OGP and in tubes with no spots. This particular 70 shown was fine for years, then bam spots were born!
Wow!
That is awful. Sorry to be seeing that.
Wasn't milk spotting a problem with Peace dollars? Also one sees lots of toned Frankies with untoned round shaped areas which were probably milk spots.
The only way I truly know my pandas are authentic are when they spot, with gold or silver.
Like I said....I've never seen a 90% silver coin with milk spots. Never seen or heard of a Peace dollar having milk spots.
Others have posted here in the past that it was a problem. Maybe someone will respond.
Leaving the silver pieces in their original packaging will reduce exposure to contamination. By paying to have a coin put into a plastic holder, you are also paying to increase potential surface contamination and spotting.
The product from the RCM only says it will 'prevent' milk spots... it does not 'remove' the milk spots after they form. That is where some enterprising individual will make some money... figure out a solution that will remove the spots without any adverse effect on the coin. Cheers, RickO
Not so fast , the may have gotten the milk spots off but the hag spot is still there
Mostly agreed , RogerB.
But there are those odd occasions with unexplained anomalies which occur.
Here is that 5 coin 25th Anniversary Set From 2011.
Sure, there will nearly always be exceptions, but overall each new re-packaging increases the opportunity for contamination, for which none of the re-packagers will accept responsibility....far too easy to blame others than to fix their own part of the problem.
Not one of the TPGs presently operating uses anything approaching a clean-room for handling coins. Not referring to medical or NASA standards, but simple best-practices for eliminating most contamination. ;(
From what I've read and seen its caused from residual "detergent" left on the planchets and or blanks after they are initially washed and rinsed. Now, what I do not understand, is you will see examples of let's say i.e., MS 70 SAE bought on x day. The coin is beautiful and stunning. Not a single milkspot to see. Then one day you take out the same coin and see milkspots all over it. My question is why in the hell arent the milkspots already noticeable? Of course, people have said to keep coins and or bullion stores in a dry climate and this will alleviate this!?....idk...some mints have worse milkspotting than others. CML and queens beasts. But the new mint shield may be on to something. Time will tell.
I've heard people say this is also why you do not see a lot of SAEs spotting due to the fact their purity is .993(respectively) as opposed to .999
They should come off very easily w/o a trace. It is a shame these are not guaranteed anymore because it could have been reholded again after the spots were removed.
This is true; however many prefer their coins be graded. It is all a crap shoot. You would be surprised at the condition of some stuff that comes right from the mint.
ASE's are 999 fine.
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That
I've posted on more than one occasion that one can see the pre-incipient/invisible milk spots by looking at the coins using a halogen flashlight, but it seems to have flown over everyones' heads. Not one person said that hey I tried that and it doesn't work. At that point the contamination can still be removed with EZest dip. You can try the acetone if you want to.
It's not post mint contamination. DW has said that coins arrive direct from the mint with some in the tubes already spotted. I can't imagine what a TPG could do to cause that sort of problem.
I meant .9993 pure. Yes it generally shows that they are .999 but in fact they are .9993
^^^correct me if I'm wrong
Still, no one has developed a process/product that will remove the milk spots - Cheers, RickO
Actually, while at NCS I learned how to remove many of these - the method I devised left with me. LOL.
It all depends on the coin as each is different. It is more difficult to do on a proof. Two years ago, I posted before and after images on another website to make a point it can be done without leaving a trace.
If it worked on all coins (some I will not touch), I would have gone to PGCS and collected the reward they offered.
I've stopped fooling with SE as soon as our guarantees no longer applied; but at work today, I'll still do it when the value of the coin warrants it.
At one point I was in touch with the head of QC for the mint. They were working on the problem, but she didn't hang around long enough to make any headway and moved on up the ladder. Frankly, I don't know why they don't make a video of the entire process [esp. that part where the coins/planchets come into contact with solutions; if in fact they do at all] and put it out for view. Can't believe it's that secretive. Probably be a piece of cake for someone to solve it if they could see the process. Then again it might be that the spots are on the planchets when the mint gets them.
There was a poster here some time ago who was [and maybe still is] an employee of the Sunshine Mint one of the suppliers to the U S mint. He posted a pic of a bag of unidentified white powder that he said was used to make the/a rinse solution for the planchets. I'll do a SWAG and suggest that it was supplied to them by the mint. Perhaps with your adeptness at searching the mint records you could search their purchase records and find out if they bought the stuff.
The basic planchet cleaning product is a version of "Simple Green." It has been used for 30+ years.
Is it initially in powder form? Idk where I heard this?
It seems Milk Spotting occurs on Peace Dollars a larger percentage of the time from 1922-1926. It is an issue that causes 65s to become 64s.
shinywhite - Liquid when I noted it about 6 years ago, but other forms might be in use. The US Mint is constantly testing these kinds of things for products that are better, or cheaper, or environmentally superior.
Post-US Mint is a totally different matter, and it would be good if those who repackage pieces would improve their processes and procedures.