Yikes! Watch for these marks on Silver Eagles.

Perfection or MS/PR-70 is hard to achieve. Without the proper lighting, magnification, and examination technique, tiny imperfections WILL BE MISSED. Additionally, the line between MS/PR-69 is often looser than it might be. One thing that TPGS's might not be as critical as they could be involves spots. At this time, there is no grade guarantee if a spot develops on a coin after it is slabbed. That allows (not saying it happens) for a person to possibly ignore a small spot and still assign a high grade.

I treat spots like bag marks because they are detracting. The image below shows some small spots on a Silver Eagle that would eliminate it from "perfection."



I just noticed the hit on the "O" and a small imperfection on the "A." If the spots were not present, that little nick makes this coin a "69" in my book. I could understand someone ignoring the tiny mark on the "A." That's because coins are not graded at high power. Unfortunately, that means that all "perfect" coins graded MS/PR-70's are not equal.

 

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Very true!

 

@Insider Is it possible for spots to appear on a coin AFTER it has been slabbed? And what would cause that?

 

Sneeze droplets. Known for a longgg time.

 

The real culprit is Nat farts.

 

I was serious, though. I know, that is rare, but still, I was. Sometimes I try to do that.

 

Sounds like an opening for someone to start assigning "grades" higher than 70.

Maybe one day scanning XRF machines will be cheap and plentiful, and graders will start deducting points based on imperceptible alloy variations across a coin's planchet. Gotta have some reason to keep the coins coming back through.

 

yeah and also dolla has a r at the end.or did everyone mis that lil tidbit.

 

Happens a lot. Many think the whitish spots on SE are the result of chemical residues left on the planchet. That sounds right to me. I do know that any water vapor in the air gun during slabbing will eventually spot a coin sealed in a slab. Those spots are not like the blobs in the image.

 

I would assume that the residue left on the planchet chemically attacked the surface over time, leaving damage that can't be washed away. It's been a while since I've dropped in on those discussions; do we have any XRF analyses or electron-microscope images of the spots? (The former might show foreign materials if they remain, and the latter would show micro-texture changes.)

 

That is not factual, at all.

You have in the past had other suggestions-such as selling the piece, and dipping could make it worse because it is not known if the piece was dipped before, and it is not known if PVC contamination was present.

I will stick with Halperin: sneezes are worse, followed by nicotine, both permanent destructors.

 

Most of these spots are not very deep into the SE surface. They can be removed by various methods used to abrade the surface. Some methods the coin doctors use are virtually undetectable unless you are looking for it under magnification! The large stains may be different than the spots. Apparently, they are more difficult to remove so I don't think anyone tries.

DON'T ASK!

 

Roger Burdette has a good section on coppper spotting on Saints/gold coins in his SAINT-GAUDENS book.

 

How the hell are water vapor, sneezes, and nicotine hitting a coin ? People are smoking while looking at raw coins ?

 

You're sounding kinda young there...

 

Yes, they can appear after slabbing, even many years after slabbing. I had the 2011 Anniversary set with all 5 coins in PR70/MS70. They were stable up until about 2018, then they started spotting, one by one until all had spots. They were kept in a dry, controlled environment and I think all it did was postpone the inevitable. I got rid of all my "special set" and proof ASEs after that and don't purchase them anymore, unless for a flip.

 

That tiny nick in the O is a full point deduction? OUCH!