I have an ASE that is perfect except for two small "doughnut" shaped circles that are *slightly* greenish in color. One is about 3mm and the other about 2mm. The circles are not perfect but a little irregular. Water doesn't remove them. Is it toning? Will it spread from there? The odd thing here is the hole in the center of both circles. The hole is maybe 1mm on both.
Sounds like PVC...take a whiff of the coin, does it smell like a shower curtain? You'll need acetone to remove it, which is dangerous stuff so becareful. Post pictures though, just to be sure.
My bad, I bet you're right. I heard alot of ASE's have milkspots... Still wouldn't hurt to post some pics.
Thanks for the responses. Unfortunately, I don't have my good camera right now. I tried a brief acetone wipe with a QTip -- didn't soak -- but it didn't have any effect. What is a milk spot and how can it be removed safely?
I'm not sure exactly what it is or how it is caused, but many american silver eagles have them for some reason...even straight from the mint. I'm sorry but I just don't know the answer.
I've tried acetone and also a dip that is the same chemical as EZest, with no results. Also a search of this forum resulted in a number of threads and posts that seem to be saying that nothing will remove the spots. Oh well...
Milk spots are caused by the planchet washing process that the mint uses. And they cannot be removed safely. Once there, they stay there. Now if you find a way to safely remove them you're gonna be one happy camper. PCGS has a standing reward of $50,000 for the person who can do this.
Is the mint still using the same washing process that causes the milk spotting? You would think they would have changed once they discovered that it was causing spotting and as a result basically a defective product.
back in 1994 I got roll of 20 & 2 had milk spot on them. I soaked the 2 in acetone them rinse with distilled water.spot were gone then sent to Ngc. all but were graded by Ngc MS-69 & 1 MS-68
Neither NGC no PCGS refuse to grade & slab a coin because of milk spots. They do it every day. And if it was so easy jello, and acetone worked - why would PCGS offer to pay anybody who has a working solution $50,000 ? That reward has never been claimed, because acetone, and nothing else yet found does work.
I would imagine the spotting on your coins was due to some kind of toning and not the spotting caused by the washing process.