Was browsing ebay when I stumbled on this SilverTowne 1989 Silver Bar, in sealed plastic. Considering this bar is quote-on-quote "sealed", I can't believe it looks this bad. I know silver will tone when left to the elements, but I always thought that if left sealed from the mint (like in this case), it would keep its luster. Is that not the case? I've bought many 1oz, 5oz and 10oz bars from the mints, all sealed. Will they suffer the same fate 25 years from now? See screenshots: Source: Ebay.com Source: Ebay.com
- Certain it's the original plastic? - Certain it's completely sealed? - Air in the space between the bar & plastic - Google "permeability of plastic" - Potential minute quantities of chemicals leaching from plastic over time - Etc.
Could be something that came in contact with the bar prior to it being put in the capsule. A steel wool Brillo scouring pad should take it all off. (just kidding....it's an art bar and may have collector value depending on how easily that brown stuff is to remove without damaging the surface of the art bar). . .
Thanks for the responses guys ... yeah, I obviously can't say for sure it is 100% sealed and/or it's the original plastic. The listing just states it is "sealed". That is by far the worst case I've ever seen though. Thanks for the tip on "permeability of plastic" .. looks like I got some reading to do steel wool; HA!.
The packing material appears to have released reactive chlorine or sulfur compounds. If the pack is sealed (airtight), this helped the silver to slowly tarnish from the date of packaging ( late 80's). A cosmetic problem. Tarnish is reversible.
