Ancients: Does this scare you? Should it?

hmmm..man...sometime this place is like going on web md for a hypochondriac (which I may border on), I always learn about something new to worry about.

I do have a franklin 50 cent piece that was a shiny silver coin, and now it has a couple of small black spots on it. Is this the type of thing I should worry about? what could I do about it anyway? Could it have started before it got to me? Like recurring BD on a bronze coin? should i take it out of the current drawer it's in and put it...where? no other silver coins I own have this.

dang...man, I bet this guy collects coins..



AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggggggggggggggggggggh!

 

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You could always seal your coins in RENWAX and be done with it. You cannot economically stop toning, what could you do? Keep the coins under a blanket of Helium? If you want to preserve your coin remember you cannot stop your coin from aging, but it is your responsibility that it ages gracefully.

 

you know, i've had waxed AE coins develop bronze disease.

this guy...

 

I can't say I subscribe to the theory that all coins out of the ground are enroute to an ugly death as a pile of powder but I do believe it is a mistake to clean and tone and clean again in an endless cycle. Some surface tone layers or patinas serve as a natural barrier to further corrosion. Removing them is a mistake.

I have black silver coins which I do not consider in need of protection but I certainly do not consider them candidates for cleaning in search of silver down below. I recall seeing a bag of several hundred Athenian tetradrachms at a show. They were dark gray and probably destined to be processed into the shiny baubles we all see so often in owls. It is a fact that more people will pay for a bright coin than a dark gray one.

 

Hey, maybe if we don't polish 'em right down to the wood?

=> ummm, then maybe they'll survive to live another day?

... how 'bout these babies? (they seem to still have a wee bit of protection, yes? ... I love coins that still have a bit of "coating" on 'em)

 

I keep mine in flips as well. It seems teh ones I'd like to tone won't, and the ones I like jsut as there are do tone.

 

here is the coin i was talking about. anything i can do about this? hard to photograph.

 

Hmmm, perhaps it has a couple of imperfections in the surface which are causing it to oxidize? (I'm pretty sure that my Granny would have reached for the Silvo-polish and a soft rag if this ever happened to her silver cuttlery?!)

... I'm not sure what you'd do my friend, but i'm gonna stay tuned and see if somebody else has some good ideas, for I have a sweetie with a similar type of oxidizing problem (again, there must be a small ding or imperfection in the surface?) ... *sigh*

 

You can see a similar spot on this GW that has been slabbed for a long time. I think these are sometimes planchet flaws or processing flaws that occur at the mint. They are very distracting especially when it looks like a booger.

 

I agree, and contrary to popular belief a slab does nothing to protect coins from developing these spots. I think it has something to do with the chemical wash the mint uses after striking (or before?). I've had entire modern proofs turn a milky blue color over time - and they came straight out of sets.

 

I keep my slabs and raw coins (which are in Mylar flips or plastic holders) in air tight ammo cans, with desiccant. Is that good?

The ammo cans have plastic trays in them. But no coin is in contact with any PVC.