If it were impurities in the alloy, wouldn't you expect them to stretch out during rolling, so you'd see milk streaks rather than spots? Then again, I've assumed "copper spots" on gold are due to alloy non-uniformity, and they're round. Calling all metallurgists...
I'm suggesting the impurities could be minerals indigenous to the area where the ore is mined and the minute amounts that are scattered through the alloy could oxidize. Such as lead which is found many times with silver and oxidizes white. These impurities wouldn't have to be a complete homogenous alloy with the silver.
Is the reward for preventing milk spots, removing milk spots, or both? Also, what if you patent it, market the product, and then let PCGS know of the solution - can you still claim the reward?
If you figure it out and patent it, the reward money will be forgotten, dwarfed by the piles of cash that many treasuries will shell out to acquire the technology
Preventing I assume, since they believe it is happening during the planchette production or silver refining... PCGS " Our feeling is that it has something to do with the .999 silver composition, as the earlier pre-1965 90% silver coins seldom spot. However, it could also have something to do with the way the planchets are prepared or washed. "
That's a good point. You would think it's more when the planchetts are punched. Lubricant being infused into the surface under the high pressure and heat. But wouldn't they be able to figure that out quickly?
I don't know how it is where you guys live, but here in the islands where there is high humidity, proper storage is critical to avoid clouding or milking
I rinse in acetone and use 1x1 and 2x2 zip bags and then sort into larger zip bags. I have seen people go so far as vacuum sealing. I don't like flips, books or tubes and capsules are too expensive for common coins. I want to be as close to my coin as possible with the ability to conveniently remove them and this was my solution. There has been no storage method discovered that prevents the silver spots in question.
https://coinweek.com/education/coin...s-crying-milk-spotted-american-silver-eagles/ I'm happy to say non of my silver is suffering this fate, but all my silver is pre "15 although "The powers that be at the Mint in the Great White North also state that the problem has persisted on their silver bullion coins since Maple Leaf silver coins first debuted in 1988."
More on Peace dollars? I had to dig around a little to see that it's a known problem on some Peace dates. For ASEs, the clamor over it has been deafening. I'll admit that I might be falling victim to sampling bias. How would you go about determining where this shows up the most?
Financially, yes. Collectors have always known about milk spotting on Peace dollars, and they are priced in. The amount of money spent on grade rarity ASEs baffles me - I don't see how a "coin" with nearly all of a multi-million mintage can be worth hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. The future will show their true value. See what collectors are offered for 70s a few years after issue. 2020s in MS70 slabs can be had for less than $40. These silver NCLTs are fun to collect, but they are not long term investments.
Doesn't the market go by the population? There are only 130, 2016P ms70 ASE on pcgs. Mintage was over 37.7 million. Must have been a bad year for quality???
https://silvereagleguide.com/mintages/ The 2016-dated coins were officially sold out on December 6, 2016 with total annual sales of 37,701,500 ounces, down by nearly 20% compared to the prior year???