Sadness at the Safe Deposit Box...

jtryka

I went to the safe deposit box today to deposit a few items, and while there I decided to take a look at my proof sets to see if there was any toning etc. Well, the good news is that all the clad sets looked great. The bad news is that every silver Kennedy I had was showing really ugly clouding, in fact I haven't seen clouding this bad since the old brown box Ikes. By far the 2001 was the worst, followed by the 2000, and then the 1999 with only some minor spots. Funny that there were no problems with the state quarters, or the silver dimes, just the halves. Very disappointing, but what can you do? I really wish the mint would stop experimenting with acid washes on proof coins headed to the public. I long for the 80s, when proof sets looked great, and stayed that way!

ricko

I checked my sets in my safe.. and found no clouding or changes. Perhaps something in the bank/safe deposit box atmosphere? Cheers, RickO

keets

i'm assuming your reference to the acid wash was meant in jest?!?!?! it could just be bad packaging or bad storage and i don't think that all of the coins would be affected the same from that. sometimes it's the luck-of-the-draw. i have a 2000 set where the only coin that has spotted is the nickel and that's my favorite coin!!! oh well.

al h.

coinfinder

Sorry to hear that. I would reccomend keeping the kennedys in the sets as it is still a "Proof Set in its original packaging" That way you can still sell it.

jtryka

Keets, no joke, it was apparently used on the 1999 sets. Here is a link to the coin world article: Acid Wash

keets

OK, that's a much better explanation than what you posted. apparently they were washing the planchets in a different solution whereas your wording led me to believe they were washing already minted coins. it sounds much like what was going on in the 1950-1970 years that Rick Tomaska talks about in his book. they used ivory soap or something similar to wash the planchets and an improper rinse gave us all the nice milk spots we know and love today.

al h.

jtryka

Sorry, I suppose I wasn't clear on that. Even so, if I was in charge of the mint and we were going to change the production process on numismatic items, I wouldn't experiment on the coins that were being sold. As far as climate control and my coins, I can think of no more climate controlled place to store my coins. Besides, if it was a climate control/humidity issue, that would more likely show up as toning, which I wouldn't appreciate, but it would be better than ugly white haze!