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Message:: [QUOTE="jolumoga, post: 26820918, member: 41780"]I asked both ChatGPT and Perplexity to explain these milk spots, and interestingly this thread was cited by Perplexity (proving that this topic was very much needed). Both chatbots suggest it's due to the cleaning and rinsing of the blanks at the mint. Here's something ChatGPT mentioned that makes some sense to me: the Peace dollars were generally minted decades after the Morgan dollars, so over time the method of minting had changed to a more modern one involving new chemicals. You'll notice that milk spots are especially common in more modern bullion like, say, Canadian Maple Leafs. The Peace dollars fit into this "modern" category more than the Morgan dollars, many of which were minted in the 19th century. According to ChatGPT, the main suspect appears to be silver chloride, accidentally deposited during the rinsing of the blanks (seemingly with contaminated water). Other suspects are detergents, salts in the cleaning, and then potentially other contaminants in the cleaning or production. Update: ChatGPT then engaged in an argument with me (in another session while trying to get clarification on the chemistry) suggesting these spots are likely from post-mint handling or care, which, as I've determined, is implausible because if that were true we would see just as much milk spots on Morgan dollars, which we don't see. I got fed up with it and closed it.[/QUOTE]