There have been several posts recently about the quality of mint packaging. The prices are going up and the packaging is going down. I took some Uncirculated ASE's out of the felt box to look at them. When I put them under a microscope I noticed small, fine blue hairs in between the two plastic caps. They look like it wouldn't take much to get them inside the holder. I tried to get a photo of them. I will try again, but this is the best I have for now.
They look like those fine, short fibers from the velvet or felt coating on the coin trays. I've had similar experiences but the fibers luckily were on the outside. What do you mean by "between the two plastic caps?" The fibers are inside the capsules? By the way, this reminded me of a question I've always wanted to ask: What type of machine does the mint use to encapsulate coins?
The fibers are not in where the coin is yet. But they are in the seam between the two caps. There is a very fine gap but it seems like the seal protecting the coins is tight. Whoever has some of the coins, any recent. should look at the under a high power and get y our own opinion. I can't get a photo that will describe it well.
The caps havent really changed and if you look at such a power it does happen. It could be said you were unlucky on that one but if you go through enough something like that isnt new
I'm thinking that the quality of the felt has been reduced. Breaking off easy. It's not getting in with the coins, yet.
Maybe someone opened the capsule in the past or it came open in shipping? I have had coins loose in the box directly from the mint.
I dunno if they've done anything to the felt quality, but it's nothing new. You can find that in years past if you look through enough of them that closely
