I popped in thinking it was spot on grading, meaning accurate. I'm also curious about the grade it received. The spot is a bit blurry, but, it could be the development of toning. Sometimes mottled or spotted toning happens. Looks like there are spots near the rim on the right. This one has spots too, in mint state... http://www.ngccoin.com/certlookup/index.aspx?CertNumber=3552890-021
... and doesn't toning on proofs usually start out as noticeable, hazy, light colored spots? Would be less noticeable on frosted or circulation strike surfaces.
I have some CuNi Ikes in slabs. They went into the slabs nice and clean. I stored them in a mahogany dresser for about three years. I took them out recently to find them all toned a great golden color.
Since the Edge View holder couldn't be more than 6 years old, it's my guess that someone gave it a quick dip before submitting it and failed to rinse it thoroughly. Chris
It's truly impossible to know, without definitive images, if the spot was there prior to certification. Either way, it is not attractive.
No, it doesn't. In this context when someone says spot they usually mean a small, or even tiny, circular dot. And toning on any coin does not start out as a small circular dot. It starts out covering small areas yes, and most often areas close to the rim. But there is no set pattern or geometrical shape that toning typically follows. The toning is dependent on what is causing it, and that can take many forms. Some of them may be concentrated and some will not. The most common form of toning occurs over virtually the entire coin at the same time, and begins the very instant that a coin is struck. And that is because all coinage metals oxidize due to exposure to the air. Spots, again in the context being used here, are typically of something coming into direct contact with the coin. That something can be a tiny drop of saliva, or a tiny fleck of organic material of any kind. And yes, even cardboard dust is an organic material. Even a tiny speck of human skin which flakes off of all of us on a continuous basis is organic material. And if a speck of that organic material happens to fall upon the surface of a coin and is left there, it is going to form a spot. That is because all organic material decays, and as it decays it affects the metal and causes a discoloration that shows up as a spot on the coin. Now if when you say spot you mean some small indistinct area, then yes. And on Proofs toning does usually first appear to be visible as a haze, typically around the rims first, but quickly spreading to cover more and more of the coin.
