Milk Spots

[Danny-boy]

Any tried and tested way of removing milk spots that does not affect the coin?

Wondered if foil lined tray & baking soda worked like it does for toning?

Cheers

[Dave]

Jewelery wipes, google getting rid of milk spots, lots of utube videos, also a clean white rubber ,like the ones on top of pencils

[Danny-boy]

I have heard the rubber and wipes both leave small scratches / clouding on the coins.

Have you tried to good effect Dave?

Cheers

[Dave]

Never tried it, would not bother with bullion coins, and would NOT do it to proof coin, would not affect the value of a bullion coin to much , worth a try on one

[Danny-boy]

I may experiment on some of my maples and see what happens.

[Shamatti]

I have yet to find one. But I have a spotty 2Oz Somali Elephant which I'm going to be experimenting on. I'll let you know!

[Danny-boy]

Ace, please do.

I have 11 2013 maples and every one has some extent of spotting.

[SPECOPS]

Can anyone give any advise as the best way to prevent milk spots?

[klacey]

I've heard this is good for shifting milk spots, but never tried it myself

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Connoisseurs-1024-Jewellery-Wipes-25s/dp/B0007CK664/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394811918&sr=8-2&keywords=silver+cleaning+wipes

[Danny-boy]

I have heard the connoisseur wipes are slightly abrasive and will mark coins.

I could remove milk spots with sandpaper, but that's not really the idea.

Be interested to see the results from one of the wipes.

[ChrisSilver]

Isn't baking soda supposed to be good for removing tarnishing?

Mix up a warm solution of hot water and dissolved baking powder or bicarbonate of soda, (not too sure what the difference is) and just dip the coin into the solution then pat try with some kitchen cloth.

 

Not sure if it would do anything to treat milk spots, and I wouldn't risk it, the solution could end up being quite abrasive depending on how much you use. BigstackMcgee used a whole lot of powder in that YouTube vid. I wouldn't clean a coin like this if I was planning on selling it. So be careful. 

The best solution is to just not buy RCM coins, which is a shame, I like the designs and if it wasn't for this ugly spotted rises I would have bought a few of those falcons.

 

 

[klacey]

I have some Falcons that are free of milk spots, as well as 2014 maples. What ever they have done to improve the issues seems to be working, atleast for now.

[Danny-boy]

I agree with Chris, if you don't like milk spots, avoid RCM.

Also agree it is a shame.

I have 2014 maples with milk spots so it's not sliced at all.

[SilverPirate]

Milk spots  would not stop me buying silver for bullion purposes but if it was for a collection i would be  annoyed at owning damaged goods as it were.

If it was bought just to chuck in ye ole treasure chest arrrrrrrrgh, no problems buy away.When we the stacking community stop buying because of the spots they might listen, but the RCM have been quoted as saying it is just bullion.

I put maples in with the 1oz bar category, it is all weight only bullion.but we know a resale market want silver in mint condition but a smelter dealer, don't care.

Does any one out there stack rough old tarnished silver and sling it in a box?i personally would love a real life treasure chest but being anal can not bring my self to do it, all i do is tube it and forget it, no fun, but a treasure chest mmmmmmmmm .Milks spotted silver would be ideal for that. 

My version of that treasure chest is plastic in cased silver in a monster box.next time i am playing with the stack i will take a photo it looks pathetic. 

[Danny-boy]

Milk spots would not stop me buying silver for bullion purposes but if it was for a collection i would be annoyed at owning damaged goods as it were.

Really?

Even if you could (which you can) buy for a similar price or the same price without milk spots??

I doubt many of our stacks will ever see the smelters, it'll always be more profitable to sell privately.

[SilverPirate]

I won't sell to a smelter but there must be big buyers somewhere that hoard this kind of bullion on mass and sell for spot or just under in big increments.

I am mainly thinking State side. 

[Danny-boy]

Yeah, I know what you mean.

But I guess if you could buy no-spot coins for the same money, it's a no brainer.

[SilverPirate]

Yeah, I know what you mean.

But I guess if you could buy no-spot coins for the same money, it's a no brainer.

I agree.

[Pete]

If you have milk spots on bullion coins then they will look pretty awful so don't worry about introducing fine scratches or cleaning marks that require close examination to detect.

A clean coin will always look better than a spotted one and some spots can be large splashes !

 

I bought an ultrasonic cleaning bath for about £20 and using fairly hot water with a few drops of washing up liquid and about a teaspoonful of Ammonia ( bought on Amazon ) I put the coins in this bath for about 5 minutes before rinsing in running warm water.

 

Pat dry with a paper towel.

 

If the blemishes remain then I gently rub with a silver polishing cloth that you can buy at most jewellers.

That will remove the spots permanently but you will see the rub marks under glancing light or magnification but who cares ?

 

Toothpaste, bicarb, erasers etc will not be better than silver polish - your last resort.

[Shamatti]

I have a theory on how to remove milk spots. It is a bit whacky and needs full testing - which will have to wait untill I am home now. I will work on it ready for testing and let you know how I get on. Anyone whant to open a book on my results? I think it will work brilliantly, and not leave any damage to the coin at all!!!! We will see.....

[Danny-boy]

Tell us more Sham, what's the plan?

[MikeOxlong]

Is the ultrasonic cleaner method effective?

[Pete]

Is the ultrasonic cleaner method effective?

 

I have an ultrasonic cleaner and it definitely DOES NOT remove the dreaded milk spots.

I wish I could get my hands on a tub of E-Zest sold in the USA for a few bucks but not allowed to be shipped to the EU ( maybe if we leave the EU we can get some ?? ).

This stuff will remove all stains and milk spots in about one second !

It is an aggressive product and has to be used correctly but it does the trick.

Only to be used on bog standard bullion though and never on semi-numi coins or proofs.

[MCJ]

I've tried to remove milk spots using a vinyl free eraser and Goddard's jewellery cloth. Guess what happened? The milk spots were removed, and so was the nice shinny finish. Using a 10x loop I could see the small scratches left by the cloth. With the naked eye, the coin looked fab.

I'm now leaving the coin out in the open to naturally tone for the next 20 years...lol.

[MikeOxlong]

I see, I have 20 of the uk lunars and I would say 13 are milkspotted 5 pretty badly. Pretty dissapponting. Might take a goddards clothe to one