Milk Spots on silver - best/safest way to deal with

If they offend you then sell them and buy something else from a different mint.

There have been several attempts to remove them, chemical and mechanical, and nothing seems to work without causing more damage.

A milk spotted Maple is one thing but a milk spotted maple with scratches is no better.
 
I am actually coming around to the idea that at least you know they are legit! In terms of stacking them I don't mind the spots really. For the single 1oz coin that I put in a capsule for my "collection" - I don't really like them.
 
Cleaning 9999 silver is not wise and it wont "increase the value".. buying maples is questionable.. cause and effect.. maples milk spot.. you don't like it, buy eagles instead! Simples!

I always say to people who clean coins that I hope they really enjoy and get satisfaction from it, else they are wasting there time, using chemials that cost and end up screwing a coin.. (3 bads and your waste of time idea is up).... leave them alone and get a proper hobby where you are doing something worthwhile either adding value or enhancing your knowledge!

1for1
 
Cleaning coins is an interesting topic in general. I asked a dealer why cleaning coins is bad. He told me that the process often damages the coin. Fair enough. But...

When you come to sell or buy a coin, people seem to think that a cleaned one is worth less. This does not make sense. I mean the damage is done. If the coin still appears near UNC in condition then it is near UNC full stop. Being clean cannot make any difference. The coin may have been UNC before cleaning and the process of cleaning brought it down to near UNC sure but the coin NOW is no worse than any other near UNC coin, clean or not.

The next point in the discussion is that for coins, a gentle mild clean (eg in distilled water with a very gentle detergent agent used to remove olis or acids from finger prints) can actually serve to protect or preserve a coin. Wouldn't this be wise if all care was taken not to scratch a coin?

Regardless, if someone cleans a coin they run the risk of damaging the coin, sure. But why on earth would a cleaned coin of a particular grade be of less value than an unlceaned coin of the same grade?

Cheers.
 
Which is why I 'clean' coins but the professionals 'restore' coins, from what I can tell the main difference is in the price.
 
Stoic Phoenix said:
Never said it was Maples....and they arent
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Maples is just a common example, what coins you actually have are not relevant to how to clean milk spots.
 
Some people have claimed success with a pencil eraser, soft enough not to scratch. I have never tried it.
 
Stoic Phoenix said:
I appreciate everyones responses.
I was thinking of a fine rub with a silver cloth as opposed to being heavy handed with acid, steel wool or an angle grinder as has been suggested above.
Cant hurt or will hurt?
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Clean it? Why ruin it for any future owner(s) of the coin?


I suppose if it's always sold during its entire lifetime to the untrained eye, and/or never gets slabbed/graded, then it should do okay.

Heaven forbid it ever gets slabbed, though.. Good luck trying to sell it *and* getting a really good price for it. Oftentimes "problem coins" sit around un-loved & un-sold, and when they finally do, typically fetch a much lower price than their milk-spotted yet problem-free bretheren.

Have you familiarized yourself with this..? http://www.ngccoin.com/coin-grading/coin-details/improper-cleaning.aspx

Those are NGC terms that can get slapped onto the label of the slab of a graded cleaned coin, in large capital letters for all to see.


Honestly, the best/safest way to "deal" with milk-spots is to leave them alone, and instead simply change your mind-set about them. They're silver coins.. It happens.. Get over it & move on.

In fact, sometimes they form in a way where they can, at least to some eyes, actually *add* to the overall appearance of the coin! :)
 
thatguy said:
angle grinder/steel wool! Seriously though there is no premium with RCM, they are low premium coins
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This is also what I thought!

HP sauce cleans all coins, thats what we cleaned coins with when I was a kid:) A Maple cleaned with HP sauce is worth no less than a Maple with milk spots and it makes it nice and shiny:)
 
Gatito Bandito said:
Stoic Phoenix said:
I appreciate everyones responses.
I was thinking of a fine rub with a silver cloth as opposed to being heavy handed with acid, steel wool or an angle grinder as has been suggested above.
Cant hurt or will hurt?
Click to expand...

Clean it? Why ruin it for any future owner(s) of the coin?


I suppose if it's always sold during its entire lifetime to the untrained eye, and/or never gets slabbed/graded, then it should do okay.

Heaven forbid it ever gets slabbed, though.. Good luck trying to sell it *and* getting a really good price for it. Oftentimes "problem coins" sit around un-loved & un-sold, and when they finally do, typically fetch a much lower price than their milk-spotted yet problem-free bretheren.

Have you familiarized yourself with this..? http://www.ngccoin.com/coin-grading/coin-details/improper-cleaning.aspx

Those are NGC terms that can get slapped onto the label of the slab of a graded cleaned coin, in large capital letters for all to see.


Honestly, the best/safest way to "deal" with milk-spots is to leave them alone, and instead simply change your mind-set about them. They're silver coins.. It happens.. Get over it & move on.

In fact, sometimes they form in a way where they can, at least to some eyes, actually *add* to the overall appearance of the coin! :)
Click to expand...

What % of Maples with milk spots get slabbed for collectors? Isnt there enough around without milk spots to be slabbed in the future? this is a noobi question not a snarky remark.
 
Stoic Phoenix said:
I appreciate everyones responses.
I was thinking of a fine rub with a silver cloth as opposed to being heavy handed with acid, steel wool or an angle grinder as has been suggested above.
Cant hurt or will hurt?
Click to expand...

A fine rub with a silver cloth will do almost as much damage as an angle grinder.

Try the silver cloth on a low premium half ounce coin or round.

You'll see :)
 
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