Gatito Bandito
Active Member
Today I received in the mail a 2014 10-oz Koala from one of the larger dealers.
Everything looked fine upon initial glance in normal lighting, but did notice some lighter discoloration on the 2 single leaves -- the middle one about 90% of it lighter, the other about a third of it lighter.
I then noticed some lightness at the outer pointed edges of its ears, which included the parts that extend into the mirrored outer ring.
Brought the coin into a mostly darkened room & shined an LED flashlight on it at low angles to get a better look, both with the naked eye & a 5x loupe.
Whoa! In an area from the 2 single leaves up to almost the top of its face, and in between from the edge of inner ear to inner ear, is a lightened area covering about 75% of its face. However, almost all its ears & entire nose are fine. Also, about 50% of the neck (the middle) is the same way.
It's basically a 1.5" tall by 1" wide lightened area that looks like some kind of liquid was spilled or something, following the individual fur & giving it an outlined look.
I wish I had a decent camera that could show this, but unfortunately I don't.
It almost seems like its frosted in parts where it shouldn't be, and part of the leaves getting a double-frosting.
Perhaps somebody could speculate what happened, since I'm only somewhat familiar with the minting process.
Did something happen with the strike? And is the frosted finish on these done with some sort of liquid, that perhaps was over-sprayed & spilled / spread where it shouldn't have, giving the mirrored koala some frosting where it shouldn't be? Not sure exactly what the frosted finish process is like.
It's really weird, because the tips of his outer ears are the same way, especially around the "P" on the left, and all around the outer right ear with a frosted outline into the mirrored ring.
Anyway, as I mentioned, you can only really see the tip of the iceberg in normal lighting. But in a darkened room with an angled flashlight, it's all sorts of crazy going on, LOL.
I debated, and probably going to keep it & not exchange it, for the simple fact that I'm looking years down the road: This could produce some interesting & unique toning, ending up with a pretty funky koala!
I might even store it without the capsule's lid, or at least partially loosened, to help speed it along.
The leaves really throw me off, because it looks like some liquid spilled in the middle of the coin. But then it jumped to the outer ears, too? Oh, and forgot to mention: the middle of the eyes are fine, but one of them has a frosted outline. Again, most of this isn't visible in normal lighting at this point. However, I'm thinking some nice natural toning could really make this stuff pop.
So, without any photos to go by, what do you think happened during its minting process to cause all this? Ever hear of or see something like this?
Thanks!
Everything looked fine upon initial glance in normal lighting, but did notice some lighter discoloration on the 2 single leaves -- the middle one about 90% of it lighter, the other about a third of it lighter.
I then noticed some lightness at the outer pointed edges of its ears, which included the parts that extend into the mirrored outer ring.
Brought the coin into a mostly darkened room & shined an LED flashlight on it at low angles to get a better look, both with the naked eye & a 5x loupe.
Whoa! In an area from the 2 single leaves up to almost the top of its face, and in between from the edge of inner ear to inner ear, is a lightened area covering about 75% of its face. However, almost all its ears & entire nose are fine. Also, about 50% of the neck (the middle) is the same way.
It's basically a 1.5" tall by 1" wide lightened area that looks like some kind of liquid was spilled or something, following the individual fur & giving it an outlined look.
I wish I had a decent camera that could show this, but unfortunately I don't.
It almost seems like its frosted in parts where it shouldn't be, and part of the leaves getting a double-frosting.
Perhaps somebody could speculate what happened, since I'm only somewhat familiar with the minting process.
Did something happen with the strike? And is the frosted finish on these done with some sort of liquid, that perhaps was over-sprayed & spilled / spread where it shouldn't have, giving the mirrored koala some frosting where it shouldn't be? Not sure exactly what the frosted finish process is like.
It's really weird, because the tips of his outer ears are the same way, especially around the "P" on the left, and all around the outer right ear with a frosted outline into the mirrored ring.
Anyway, as I mentioned, you can only really see the tip of the iceberg in normal lighting. But in a darkened room with an angled flashlight, it's all sorts of crazy going on, LOL.
I debated, and probably going to keep it & not exchange it, for the simple fact that I'm looking years down the road: This could produce some interesting & unique toning, ending up with a pretty funky koala!
I might even store it without the capsule's lid, or at least partially loosened, to help speed it along.
The leaves really throw me off, because it looks like some liquid spilled in the middle of the coin. But then it jumped to the outer ears, too? Oh, and forgot to mention: the middle of the eyes are fine, but one of them has a frosted outline. Again, most of this isn't visible in normal lighting at this point. However, I'm thinking some nice natural toning could really make this stuff pop.
So, without any photos to go by, what do you think happened during its minting process to cause all this? Ever hear of or see something like this?
Thanks!
