Milk Spot Question

[Tekkie1]

Hello All.
I have been stacking Silver and Gold for awhile now with the bulk of it in a deposit box at my bank.
I have a large 64 Gun safe where I have been storing silver and gold as well for the last few years instead of the bank in case it would be needed for a quick bug out (SHTF type of thing) or an emergency with all that was going on (pandemic) amongst other things happening on in our country.
At one point, I happened to purchase some silver rounds from APMEX. Not too much of it only because it was a good deal, (at the time) that is.
Anyway, as I decided to change to a different everyday carry weapon, I decided to go thru some of the things I haven't seen in a good while. As I came across these particular APMEX rounds, I noticed that they ALL had at least a little bit of milk spots on them. All of my rounds are encapsulated separately.
None of my ASE or Maple leaves or Gold have this nor any other issues. All of my weapons are rust and problem free. I have a dehumidifier in my safe as well so...
Why only the APMEX rounds?
Has anyone else had any issues with these or any other brands of bullion?
Any way to rid these milk spots?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

[RogerB]

Leave stuff in the ORIGINAL capsules (if any). Every exposure to air greatly increases the opportunity for spotting of all types. How to get rid of this has been mentioned many times. Check older posts.

[Tekkie1]

Hey thanks Roger, will do.
Kinda thought they were permanent.

[messydesk]

As far as I know, milk spots that have been seen on ASEs and other mint products are permanent and are a result of improper planchet preparation. The APMEX rounds may spot for the same reasons, but I haven't heard anything specifically about them.

[Tekkie1]

Thanks JB.
It's strange that they were perfect until I changed them to their present holders.

[UNCLE BINGO]

Milk spots are the plague on ASE's . Its wide spread from other mints in the world as well on .999 fine coins . Some take years to form . About 5% of my own have developed some visible spotting . In a thousand years they probably all will be milk spotted or black .

[rogerg]

In a thousand years they probably all will be milk spotted or black .

Why I have always thought "toned coins" should not be bought at a premium.

[RogerB]

Thanks JB.
It's strange that they were perfect until I changed them to their present holders.

Scientific research into this was done more than 10 years ago and published. Alloy mixing has no bearing on spots. Surface spots are nearly always the result of airborne contamination. Each time a planchet or coin/token is exposed to air the chances of contamination substantially increase. A polished planchet/token is more susceptible to spotting because the surface is more uniform and offers less area over which the contaminant must spread. Depending on the contaminant, spots might become visible within weeks, years or never. Once it is visible, the damage has been done at a tiny spot. discoloration surrounding the damage can often be removed just as with any other surface tarnish. But, the tiny etched spot will remain, although it might not be visible.

RE: "...improper planchet preparation..."
If this refers to planchet exposure to airborne contaminants or incomplete cleaning, that's correct. Manufacturers of these tokens must clean and dry them just before striking. (This is what was done in the old days of Morgan and Peace dollars. Spots are very unusual on them even after a century.)

[UNCLE BINGO]

@RogerB wrote": "...improper planchet preparation..."
If this refers to planchet exposure to airborne contaminants or incomplete cleaning, that's correct. Manufacturers of these tokens must clean and dry them just before striking. (This is what was done in the old days of Morgan and Peace dollars. Spots are very unusual on them even after a century.)"

Its sad that Mercantii and the boys did not take this lesson from George Morgan , but I guess they are too busy writting books and selling signatures for some TPG labels to care about stuff like that

[Albannach]

Test it

Puddle of acetone and puddle of ammonia on a stainless steel surface
Let it dry…

[colwillys]

Still 1 oz of silver dry or clean . It is not like its a Morgan or Peace Dollars .

[RogerB]

RE: "It's sad that Mercantii and the boys did not take this lesson from George Morgan, but I guess they are too busy writing books and selling signatures for some TPG labels to care about stuff like that."

Planchet preparation was done by the Coining Dept, not Engraving. So those referred to were not involved. (John Mercanti was the last US Mint engraver who knew something about the old processes. He is also the person who read my account of the 1908 Saint-Gaudens half eagle dies (Renaissance of American Coinage 1905-1908), and used that info. to find the original dies among Philadelphia Mint materials.)

[UNCLE BINGO]

Thank you for clearing that up .

[UNCLE BINGO]

@RogerB please forgive me for that last post . Low blood sugar moment

..I did not mean to promote JM to mint director. He was the 12th cheif engraver. Not the boss. Something as simple as cleaning and drying should have been the rule ,not the exception. It's frustrating to watch investments go to crap because of some incompetent goings on at the mint.

[Tekkie1]

@ALBANNACH I'll give it a try Doug, thanks.

@colwillys I agree. But I'm sure some folks will use it to de-value the silver.


Thank you all for your input Gentlemen, I appreciate you all.

[RogerB]

RE: "It's frustrating to watch investments go to crap because of some incompetent goings on at the mint..."

Your frustration is reasonable and well understood. It's disappointing to open the bank box and find spots on gold and silver pieces that we thought were well protected.

I have no empirical data, but anecdotally it appears most spotting occurs on pieces that were transferred from the original mint packaging (US Mint, China, or any other) and put into new holders. That is not to imply these mints are blameless - they were the ones who sponsored published research into how and why spots occurred on pieces never removed from their original capsules.

[Longstrider]

I had a Mexican silver medal, that was spot free, come back from NGC with a couple of milk spots. If they were there before I would never have had it slabbed. Got a P69 so?????Do the TPG ding a coin for milk spots? Thanks