The unopened mint bag I purchased off ebay includess 39 quarters with the extra cactus error. Nice. However all 100 of the quarters have green spots on them. Whaaaat?
Green? If it is something organic you can soak them in acetone and that will take it off without damaging the coins. (100% acetone preferred.) What's the extra cactus error. Let's see some photos.
Where's the extra cactus? As for the green stuff (that haze?) it might wash off with distilled water after you put the coin in a glass jar, screw top with 100% acetone for 2-3 days. Or it might not. Well once you get it from EBay the integrity of the mint bag has been compromised since you didn't get it from the mint.
Yep. Should I assume the bag was opened and then restitched? The bag is clean, doesn't appear to have been in water. Take the photo full screen. I see the extra cactus over the artist initials.
https://www.cointalk.com/threads/arizona-state-quarter-extra-cactus-long-read.39138/ I can't say I'm familiar with such debatable "varieties", but the above shows something different from what I can see on yours. Am I missing something?
Your photo is a little blurry I can't tell. Acetone will work on organic material without damaging the surface of the coin. IDK if that green stuff are water spots or not. The mint bag should not leave that kind of residue. IDK if it was opened and searched and resealed, but nothing surprises me anymore.
There are two errors on your example. My error is the one under the tree (not over the date). My coin has three cacti instead of the normal two. The lowest cactus is the error, and it covers the artist's initials.
Here's another coin with the three cacti under the tree. The top and bottom ones are dark. The one in the middle not so dark. I contacted the seller inquiring about the green spots.
Can you post a picture of the "mint bag"? The government stopped distributing coins in bags in 2001, if I remember correctly (and never in bags of only 100 coins-- at least that I know of). Also, do you or the seller you acquired the coins from live in a state known for high levels of humidity?