Brown spots on silver coins.

[goomolique 3]

Hi everyone,

this is my first post on this forum but ive been checking this website for couple of years.

I have a quick question.

I buy silver 50p coins from Royal Mint.

Theyve been sending me one every month (at least they supposed to) and i have 15 att the moment.

Couple days ago ive noticed that the older ones have brown spots on them and one or two are quite bad.

I never opened a capsule and i store them all in a box.

So, my question is am i doing something wrong or is it Royal Mints fault and i can complain about it?

And get it exchanged for example?

Thanks

[Peckris 579]

Hi everyone,

this is my first post on this forum but ive been checking this website for couple of years.

I have a quick question.

I buy silver 50p coins from Royal Mint.

Theyve been sending me one every month (at least they supposed to) and i have 15 att the moment.

Couple days ago ive noticed that the older ones have brown spots on them and one or two are quite bad.

I never opened a capsule and i store them all in a box.

So, my question is am i doing something wrong or is it Royal Mints fault and i can complain about it?

And get it exchanged for example?

Thanks

Welcome to the forums

I'm guessing these are silver proofs, right? Are the capsules the screw-down type, or are they sealed like the proof sets? 1977 silver proof crowns (for example) were sold in unsealed capsules, so storage was very important. Even the early proof sets can tone quite badly and untoned examples command a premium.

What kind of box do you store them in? And what kind of environment do you live in - is there a lot of moisture or salt sea air where you are? The spots sound like tarnish - if they were regular silver coins that were BU with the odd tarnish spot, I would recommend dipping for a few seconds to remove the spots, but I'd never suggest that for proofs as you would damage the mirrored fields irreparably.

You could certainly try and contact the Mint, telling them you never opened a capsule, and maybe send them a couple of photos of the worst examples? But I wouldn't hold out too much hope they will exchange them, though it's worth checking any guarantee they may or may not have issued.

[Peter 615]

I had a badly tarnished 1937 silver crown.I bought some Goddards silver dip and with a cotton bud I managed to clear the brown muck.

A rinse and a pat dry.

Try at your peril though.

[goomolique 3]

Hello again,

had a very busy time at work plus busy Christmas so no time to reply:)

These 50ps are silver BU not proof.

Im not sure about dipping them as i have never done it before. Can i get some advice? What to buy how to do it?

And is there a risk of damaging a coin? I dont want to take a risk.

As for Royal Mint. They offered me two coins free of charge and i agreed.

All the best

[Peckris 579]

Hello again,

had a very busy time at work plus busy Christmas so no time to reply:)

These 50ps are silver BU not proof.

Im not sure about dipping them as i have never done it before. Can i get some advice? What to buy how to do it?

And is there a risk of damaging a coin? I dont want to take a risk.

As for Royal Mint. They offered me two coins free of charge and i agreed.

All the best

Sorry, but you must be mistaken. The only silver coins currently produced (apart from things like non-currency Britannias) are proof issues, always lower mintages than the CuNi proofs. DO NOT DIP PROOFS!!!

(My mistake - the exception to the rule is the limited edition Silver Sports 50p Collection, minted to .925 silver in BU. I do hope you're not paying their issue price of £49.99 per coin? If you are, you'd be well advised to stop if you can - they will turn up on the secondary market at less than half price in a year or two. The Mint overcharges for everything, and their issue price is almost never recoverable when selling on, even to a collector. In fact, if you're getting brown spots, that would be the perfect excuse for returning them and asking for a refund.)

Edited December 29, 2012 by Peckris

[goomolique 3]

Hi,

ive just checked COA and it says BU on it...

[Peckris 579]

Hi,

ive just checked COA and it says BU on it...

We crossed - do see my added paragraph.

[goomolique 3]

This is my first post on this forum.

Its been a while:)

I finally found photos of the above coins.

To Peckris

Mint was charging me £34,99 for one.

I got 3 for free because they had delays and 1 for £10.

Saddly I stopped receiving them long time ago (only have 12 out of 25 or so).

Emailed Royal Mint but they didnt reply.

As to buying half price on ebay - yes there are the ones i have, but the ones im missing are not.

[Peckris 579]

This is my first post on this forum.

Its been a while:)

I finally found photos of the above coins.

To Peckris

Mint was charging me £34,99 for one.

I got 3 for free because they had delays and 1 for £10.

Saddly I stopped receiving them long time ago (only have 12 out of 25 or so).

Emailed Royal Mint but they didnt reply.

As to buying half price on ebay - yes there are the ones i have, but the ones im missing are not.

Actually, that isn't what I'd call 'brown spots', more a kind of golden toning around the legend. It's not unattractive, and with the RM mass-production methods - yes, even for proofs - it's not at all uncommon. You should see some of their early decimal proof sets (especially 1973) if you want a definition of 'ugly'.

[Nick 329]

Shows that the black 'foam' inserts are far from chemically inert.

Edited November 10, 2013 by Nick

[Peckris 579]

Shows that the black 'foam' inserts are far from chemically inert.

True - the 1973 set was the first to use a bright red insert, which was probably the culprit there.

[goomolique 3]

This is my first post on this forum.

Its been a while:)

I finally found photos of the above coins.

To Peckris

Mint was charging me £34,99 for one.

I got 3 for free because they had delays and 1 for £10.

Saddly I stopped receiving them long time ago (only have 12 out of 25 or so).

Emailed Royal Mint but they didnt reply.

As to buying half price on ebay - yes there are the ones i have, but the ones im missing are not.

Actually, that isn't what I'd call 'brown spots', more a kind of golden toning around the legend. It's not unattractive, and with the RM mass-production methods - yes, even for proofs - it's not at all uncommon. You should see some of their early decimal proof sets (especially 1973) if you want a definition of 'ugly'.

This is the only half-decent photo i made with my dodgy camera.

Other 3-4 coins have brown spots not toning.

I have 15 coins and 10 or 11 are spotless:)