Weird stuff on my 1878 8tf?

Ok i have 3 very small brownish/black little things that look like dirt on the obverse on my morgan 1878 8tf, i know this pic isnt the best but what is it, and how do i take it off, or should i just leave it alone? (its a vam 16)

 

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Photo of the whole coin would help. What I see there is dark toning/corrosion. Lets see the whole coin before thinking about what to do.

Jim

 

I know its not good but meh, its not toning its just the light

 

I don't know, I think we're going to need a better straight on pic with the coin filling the frame.

Are the circled brown spots raised or indented?

 

Ii cant tell its in a slab...

 

i think raised

 

You should be able tell with 10x or more mag.

I'll let dersertgem weigh in on this as he knows a lot more about this. But I've been told the raised tiny specks are carbon spots due to someone coughing/sneezing/breathing on the coin. The ones I've seen are pin head size and dark brown/black and under high mag look like chunks of carbon. Some spots I've seen have toning emanating from them.

 

what to do about it?

 

Like I said, let's hear what desertgem has to say about it, it may be something completely different. If it's what I suggested, I believe I was told it's too late, as it's eaten into the coin, but you may be able to conserve the coin to stop it from spreading/growing. Let's wait for desert's opinion.

 

NCS says they can remove carbon spots, would that leave a mark or what

 

I think it depends on how much it's eaten into the coin -it has to leave some mark.

 

They are really small, i mean in your opinion would it make the coin look better

 

I didn't know NCS could remove them. Maybe with a better pic (refer to post #4) I could give an opinion. But, before you go gettin all upset about it, wait for another opinion, it may be nothing to worry about.

 

Well the second photo doesn't really help much. Carbon spots on silver are not really related to carbon, but to sulfur, and yes on silver coins, the thio-acid dips would remove it with risk of damage to the luster. From what I can see of the second photo, is that my advice would be to leave it alone, and store safely so the process doesn't increase. If I couldn't live with it , sell and rebuy a different one, but if that wasn't possible, leave alone. If raw, might be worth a try, but not graded and slabbed.

Jim

 

If it were mine, I'd sell it and replace it.

 

Or, keep it if the spots are actually that small and you can live with it. No coins are perfect, if it's not spots, it would be something else that bothers you. If you find one you like better someday, replace it. Can't really tell from that pic, but it looks like a nice coin, What's it graded?

 

Yeah, those spots aren't too small, though... the one on the face isn't bad, but the ones to the left are kind of... icky? I'm actually very easy to please as far as coins go, but those spots would just bother me.

 

If it really bothers you now that won't change over time and in fact will likely get worse, so you might consider replacing the coin. However, minor (or even not so minor) imperfections on a coin are what makes each coin unique. TC

 

Its graded ms 62 vam 16 by ngc

 

Yeah, if it's just a 62, I'd sell and upgrade, haha. Forced upgrade!