I'm attaching an image of this 2000 quarter oz gold bullion. Although I used the flash from the camera and thought it was only flash brilliance at first, upon closer inspection I see what looks like particles or moisture. I can't tell whether they are on the coin or the casing. I'm also concerned about how it might affect the value. Any help would be welcome. Thanks.
I can't see anything that looks like it's moisture, looks like normal haze to me. Did you just buy this coin or have you been storing it for a while ?
I have had it stored at room temp ever since purchase in 2000. I really have to look at it to see the "haze" but the flash brought it out a lot. What causes the haze and is it detrimental to the coin's value? Thanks.
Haze can be caused by many things, changes in temperature, humidity, normal toning, improper storage. Any one or all of those combined could cause it. On some coins yes haze can affect value in a negative way. But with these, they really have little to no numismatic value so the value is based on the gold content to begin with. And that hasn't changed so the value isn't affected. But since the price of gold is a whole lot higher now than it was in 2000, you've done just fine value wise. The coin is worth about 4 times what you paid for it, assuming you bought it at or near spot back then.
Thanks, guys, for the fast replies and sorry for the delay getting back to you. The haze is bothering me because I think it may be affecting the sale of the coin. I contacted the mint a few weeks back to inquire if anything could be done and they said not citing too long a period had passed since purchase, even though I told them that the coin didn't develop this for years. Not a good thing. I never knew until this coin showed up with this, that there was ever any issue with proof sets. My father, before he passed and God bless his soul, collected a great many silver proofs over the years. Now I'm wondering if any "defects" have shown up in those too. I guess paying a premium isn't always a guarantee of premium quality. After this incident, it will be a good long time before I order any more proof sets. BTW, can anything be done about this haze?
For the sake of discussion... If you buy a brand new Ferrari and park it on the street for 14 years did paying a premium for a car guarantee that it would remain in the same condition for 14 years? This seems relevant...
Here is an good example of haze on a proof coin. This was a gift and it's not that valuable. Dipped it in e*E*est, haze all gone. The white spots are dust.
That's a big difference there, ron_c. Not sure what you dipped it in, whether or not you had to remove the coin from its casing, etc, so more details please. Unless I'm mistaken, gold proofs from the mint are vacuum sealed, so not sure it's a good idea to try and break that unless you dipped the coin case and all.
True, but I think of the proof's casing as like that Ferrari being garage kept, covered, and never driven all those years.... should be a big difference, no?
You are mistaken. Not only are they not vacuum sealed, they are not even airtight. And that is why your Proof coin got the haze on it that it did. There is no coin holder that is airtight, none. And so the ambient air gets to the coins no matter what you do. To protect the coins as much as possible, you have to store them correctly.
No, those cases are not impervious to hazing. The coin posted by ron_c appears to be mint packaging and you can find many examples of the same hazing from coins that have been stored in mint packaging. It's all about storage. What kind of container it's in, temps, humidity, light, and changes in them. Edit: GDJMSP beat me to it.
This dollar coin was in a set along with a Proof half dollar and it was removed from the round holder to be dipped. My daughter paid $10 for the set at a yard sale (probably because it was so ugly with the hazing), so it was no big deal if it was damaged during the dipping. The product is called e*Z*est Coin Cleaner or eZest. From what I have read, if you dip a gold coin with it or any other cleaner it tends to turn the gold coin an orange color. I have a couple of gold bullion coins that also has some haze on them, but I'm just going to let them have the hazing as I'm not going to take the chance. I also didn't want to take the chance on dipping the clad Proof half dollar coin as it has a very light gold toning on it. The only US gold coin that I know that is vacuum sealed at the Mint is the Gold Buffalo because it is pure gold and not alloyed and is very soft and easily dented or scratched and is not recommended to remove it, unless putting in a more secure holder.
