I just got both some Maples and a tube of Eagles today. I have to say Eagles are definitely my favourite along with some of the kooks. Maples...meh.
I think the fact that there are only 29 Maples graded MS-70 by PCGS since 1988 tells the whole story. Maples are pieces of shittt! Why bother?? http://www.pcgs.com/pop/detail.aspx...erjam&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=14510
No love here for bullion CML's. But my favorite RCM coin is the Red Enamel Maple Leaf Impression proof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jMNVJ1gkjk Really a stunning coin.
Did I just hear you guys in Australia pay 25% over spot for Maples? Average retail price is about $2 over spot here haha.
I buy the sml not for its beauty or collectibility but rather for its pure silver content and mainly because it is legal tender in my country. Also they are relatively close to spot so i see no reason to buy rounds when i can buy these for a few cents more than rounds. I do hate the milk slots but after cleaning them with jewelry cloth, theyre as good as new. If i was living in the US, it will be the ase for me but since im in canada sml was a no brainer. I do have some takus, brits and pandas and some scottsdale omnia as well but the majority of my bullions are SmL. My fav coins however are the pandas, kooks followed by lunar coins for its semi-numismatic value.
I like the Maple design, it was the first silver coin I got in hands, and back then they were more expensive than philharmonikers so I chosed the latter. Later on I did buy a monsterbox (that I didn't open so far) and sold that single tube Maples of first silver. The new 2014 design makes it look even better in my opinion, and they are the same price as phils now, so I'm seriously thinking to chose them for a next purchase. But I like to ask first if anybody has experience with them in the milk spots subject. Anyone has experience with these new ones?
Yeah, they suck big bags of wind, and dog poop, and white snow, and hail, sleet and snow. They suck, bottom line. Stay away. They suck.
Good luck with the monster box. Just a disaster waiting to happen. Nothing changes with the new design either. http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=191392584803&alt=web
Ehm! Calm down! Telegram style! 1) My monsterbox purchase is a story from the past. The past is like it is. I can't change it. 2) My question is if anybody has actually seen milk spots on the new maple design. No luck, no maybe, but actually seen. If yes, I will certainly dig the Maple choice. Simply because that new relief design must be a much bigger pain in the ass to clean. Altima's ebay link mentions a jeweler cloth, and in the past I used it with success on that single tube, but such cloth on a relief just doesn't work. If no, it stays an option, not sure, but an option nevertheless.
Lol. I've seen one myself personally at the LCS here. They don't even bother storing them properly cos to them its low premium bullion. The guy keeps it in his cash register for goodness sake!
I like the new 2014 edition. The radial lines are very pretty and the extra security feature is nice. I was not a fan of the pre 2014 models. So far no milk spots on my first 2014 and that has just been sitting in a flip with the rest of the silver. I have a tube of 20 that I'm keeping closed, will check up on that someday.
I bought a few 2014 CML's this year and they had no milk spots that I can see with the naked eye. If they do develop, I'll just let my cat lick 'em...she loves milk. No, but seriously, I did buy some and no spots on mine. .
Just to add: sometimes things do change. Even things that persisted for a long while. I don't see the Canadian Mint as an enemy or so, just as a company that, as the higher vulnerability to milk spots proves, does a job bad. If they would start to do the job better, it's fair to also say it, and take it into account when chosing. In some past I had the idea that the problem cause had alot to do with the 9999 instead of 999. I don't know if this is true, it just seemed a plausible explanation, even in case other 9999 coins/rounds do not show this, because the latter sometimes have a much higher price and then more care (read: costs) in the production becomes an option, unlike the 'regular bullion' maple leaf. My question here origined from this thought: that Mint personell / designer / decision makers are not stupid or so, and they must be aware of the milk spot subject, so if they decide to introduce a entire surface relief pattern, they might also have done something to get rid of that extra milk spot vulnerability. From this thought, I brought this up. It's a "forget the past" (even if it's still the present), and a recheck the present case, the new design. I think I'll give it a try. I'll have again some maples to look at, without needing to open that monsterbox (and next possible the disaster picture I prefer to not know in case). They're cleanable though, so that 'disaster' is not *that* explicit. Just alot work
I have a handful of the 2014 that I put straight into air-tites and put a desiccant packet in the tube of air-tites and they still developed milk spots.....boooooo
