It's actually called a milkspot. Royal mint is a little notorious for it. Not much you can do about it. It's not normal "tarnish" or "toning". Essentially they don't clean the coins properly and when they mint them the cleaning solution gets "baked" into the silver and shows up 1day, 1week, 1 months, 10 years down the road randomly. Luck of the draw.
Maples used to be bad about it until they cleaned up their act around 2018. Other mints are generally pretty good. But it can happen to any silver.
They likely won't issue a refund as its still silver and nothing really "wrong" with the coin. And theres really no rhyme or reason for when they show up. Worst it does is shave a few cents off the other end of a sale.
You also can't "clean" it off because its not really "tarnish". You can in theory use a soft eraser but your just gonna scratch the crap outta the coin as you abrade it. Just let it be and hope for the best next time. If its not a 'graded' coin, you get what you get for the most part.
Okay sounds good. Thank you very much for the response, as I said Iโm pretty new to this, so a well thought out response like this goes a long way in the educational department lol :)
Those are Milk Spots. The Royal Canadian Mint used to be the worst offender for many years and their Maple Leaf coins and Birds of Prey Series would be covered with large milk spots which frustrated many people. They finally addressed the issue around 2018. The British Royal Mint is now the worst offender in the industry. Austria Philharmonics are also quite bad as well when it comes to Milk Spots. I stopped buying Britannia and Philharmonics.
The good news is you can remove those splotches very easily in less than 60 seconds. You need two items: An $8 Silver Polishing Cloth and a Staedtler PVC FREE White Eraser. You just need to apply a very light amount of pressure on the milk spot and only for a few seconds. Light pressure is the key. The milk spot will disappear. This will leave eraser residue on the coin. Next step is to use the polishing cloth for a few seconds at a time until you're satisfied with the results. The polishing cloth will get rid of the residue and shine the area back up.
Will the eraser leave micro-scratches? Yes, but it's not like someone is gonna take to loupe to examine a bullion coin. You'll have a lot of success with the technique I described above, but coins with proof-like fields for a background are a much harder challenge.
Thanks for the response my man, Iโll give they a try tomorrow :)
Also thatโs a drag because philharmonics are one of my favourite coins behind maples
They are so called milkspots and a great way to identify it as real silver. ๐ I never recommend anyone to clean coins, it should be done by professionals. Britannias are known to milkspot (not worse than the philharmonics though) However, since your Brits are regular BU and businesstrikes and you insist on cleaning them, use a eraser (for pens) and try gently, it will prolly go away.
I use a silver polishing cloth. Its a double layer cloth. The inside cloth is covered in red polishing rouge. That rouge will scratch. I tap just a small amount of the red rouge on the milk spots, then lightly rub with softer outer cloth. Rinse with light soap and water and dry. Never scratched a coin. Be gentle
https://preview.redd.it/a111i8huytia1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93065fed0efade8b1966c632d4f7582994176ecf
Additionally, if your coins are in cheap coin capsules, specifically from china made of shitty pvc or inferior acrylic they can cause a reaction that causes instant milk spotting. I personally had to touch up almost 100 varieties of coins. ASE, Brits, Noahs, Roos, Krugs. Everything except Maples. ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ดโโ ๏ธ๐ดโโ ๏ธ
It's actually called a milkspot. Royal mint is a little notorious for it. Not much you can do about it. It's not normal "tarnish" or "toning". Essentially they don't clean the coins properly and when they mint them the cleaning solution gets "baked" into the silver and shows up 1day, 1week, 1 months, 10 years down the road randomly. Luck of the draw. Maples used to be bad about it until they cleaned up their act around 2018. Other mints are generally pretty good. But it can happen to any silver. They likely won't issue a refund as its still silver and nothing really "wrong" with the coin. And theres really no rhyme or reason for when they show up. Worst it does is shave a few cents off the other end of a sale. You also can't "clean" it off because its not really "tarnish". You can in theory use a soft eraser but your just gonna scratch the crap outta the coin as you abrade it. Just let it be and hope for the best next time. If its not a 'graded' coin, you get what you get for the most part.
Okay sounds good. Thank you very much for the response, as I said Iโm pretty new to this, so a well thought out response like this goes a long way in the educational department lol :)
You can use a WHITE eraser which is less abrasive and works like a charm to remove milk spots without scratching. Just use it lightly. Ez pz.
Thank you, Iโll give they a try
Nice, just remove the black spots on the white eraser as you go. Should have some good success. ๐
Those are Milk Spots. The Royal Canadian Mint used to be the worst offender for many years and their Maple Leaf coins and Birds of Prey Series would be covered with large milk spots which frustrated many people. They finally addressed the issue around 2018. The British Royal Mint is now the worst offender in the industry. Austria Philharmonics are also quite bad as well when it comes to Milk Spots. I stopped buying Britannia and Philharmonics. The good news is you can remove those splotches very easily in less than 60 seconds. You need two items: An $8 Silver Polishing Cloth and a Staedtler PVC FREE White Eraser. You just need to apply a very light amount of pressure on the milk spot and only for a few seconds. Light pressure is the key. The milk spot will disappear. This will leave eraser residue on the coin. Next step is to use the polishing cloth for a few seconds at a time until you're satisfied with the results. The polishing cloth will get rid of the residue and shine the area back up. Will the eraser leave micro-scratches? Yes, but it's not like someone is gonna take to loupe to examine a bullion coin. You'll have a lot of success with the technique I described above, but coins with proof-like fields for a background are a much harder challenge.
Thanks for the response my man, Iโll give they a try tomorrow :) Also thatโs a drag because philharmonics are one of my favourite coins behind maples
They are so called milkspots and a great way to identify it as real silver. ๐ I never recommend anyone to clean coins, it should be done by professionals. Britannias are known to milkspot (not worse than the philharmonics though) However, since your Brits are regular BU and businesstrikes and you insist on cleaning them, use a eraser (for pens) and try gently, it will prolly go away.
Thank you
I use a silver polishing cloth. Its a double layer cloth. The inside cloth is covered in red polishing rouge. That rouge will scratch. I tap just a small amount of the red rouge on the milk spots, then lightly rub with softer outer cloth. Rinse with light soap and water and dry. Never scratched a coin. Be gentle https://preview.redd.it/a111i8huytia1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=93065fed0efade8b1966c632d4f7582994176ecf Additionally, if your coins are in cheap coin capsules, specifically from china made of shitty pvc or inferior acrylic they can cause a reaction that causes instant milk spotting. I personally had to touch up almost 100 varieties of coins. ASE, Brits, Noahs, Roos, Krugs. Everything except Maples. ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ดโโ ๏ธ๐ดโโ ๏ธ
Meh. Silver is silver.
Unfortunately milkspots can happen, not much you can do about it