What's The Matter With Ben ???

Calling on experts: What's the matter with Ben ? Here is my 1961 PF67 Franklin half dollar slabbed. If you notice around the back of the head and the front of the face the coin has begun to......well I don't know. Assistance is greatly needed to figure out 'What's wrong with him'.

 

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Almost looks like improperly rinsed dip residue

 

I agree. It has that look.

 

wouldn't you say that NGC would have picked up on that when grading the coin ?

 

Not if it was submitted shortly after it was dipped as it usually takes a while for that residue to show up on the coin.

 

Not always. It may take time to start showing.

 

It could be the start of toning but I would tend to agree with Mainebill on the improper rinsing of being dipped.

 

So Ben is worth fifty cents again.

 

I've looked at both side of the head with two different loupes. There is no gritty look on either side and no film. When looking at the edges of each area, they look to be slightly darker than the center of this discoloration. As for storage, I keep all my slabs in a closet, in a storage box. Thoughts now ?

 

This Franklin is in a metal lock box, stacked with other Morgans and Peace dollars, all slabbed. There are no silica packs in the box. The box is lined with your basic paper towel, bottom and sides not top. There are about 100 slabs in the box, that's all. The box is in the back on my closet dry no humidity in the room.

 

Doug, like most people here, my coins are stored in a SDB. Most are in airtites or slabs stored inside the PCGS slab boxes. My SDB also has important documents, passports, ect. Those papers need to go? I need another SDB? One for coins, one for papers?

 

To piggyback on Doug's comments, I had a hard time with my ASEs and unwanted toning even with silica gel packs. I picked up a cheap hygrometer on Amazon so I could monitor the humidity levels. I ended up purchasing the 750 gram canister and got the humidity level to about 20%. Be sure to recharge the silica packs regularly.

 

I have four of the items pictured in Doug's original response. You need to recharge them about every 3 months, 300 degrees in your oven for about 3 hours. They last indefinitely.

 

I "used" to use those specific containers..................until one got bumped in the SDB and spilled its contents all over the box. Not much good to me then.

Over the passed 44 years, after having collected and stored coins in 2x2's, storage boxes, safes, and safety deposit boxes in California, Vermont, Texas, and Colorado, I've yet to experience any discoloration due to environment or whether or not papers and wood outgassing (I built a fake back in a cabinet in a wet bar with stained plywood and wood standoffs with velcro fasteners) occurred in or around the stored coins. Never.

However, I have experienced discoloration on coins due to something which was physically on the coins surface over both short and long periods of time.

Slabs are not air tight containers but they are also not open windows in that do not allow air to "flow" freely within the slab. As such, any movement of air within that slab is barely even perceptible.

My guess is that whatever is occurring with the OP's coin is a direct result of something coming in direct contact with that coin before it was slabbed. The only resolution is to have the coin conserved by NGC to properly remove the contaminant.

However, since it's a relatively common proof coin with a relatively common grade I would not concern myself with the expense unless the coin had some sentimental value associated with it.

All my opinions are based upon experiences through observation and not scientific fact.

 

Following up on the Franklin, since the toning has begun on the coin, should I just continue to allow the toning to continue ? See where it goes from here ? Is it going to hurt future value ? I have purchased the gel packs and have pulled the paper out of the box.