Posted 04/19/2014 10:33 pm
As stated, yes. It matters not how much silver is in something (I have a Mexican silver peso from the 50's, which is 10% Ag, and it's got some interesting bands of tarnish), it will tarnish if exposed to sulfur, oxygen, etc. (The most common form is silver sulfide, but silver oxide does exist)
So long as it's in an airtight container (from the mint or one of the store-bought Air-Tight containers with the foam rubber rings), it should be just fine. There's always a chance it could still tarnish, but I wouldn't loose sleep over it (I don't over mine).
And, of course, pay no heed (usually) to those who tell you that a cleaned coin is worth melt (I'm happy to see silverwolf saying "sometimes", which is true). It all depends on what coin it is. If she's rare, low mintage, etc., even cleaned can fetch 75-100% of the market value of a non-cleaned one (Morgan dollars, for example, harshly cleaned and scratched up beyond belief...seen it happen). In your case however, unless silver goes **massive**, even if you took some sandpaper for use with metal and had at the coin, so long as it'd be identifiable, it'd still be worth the 100 CAD you paid for it. That's the beauty (I think) of such issues. Legal tender means legal tender regardless of the condition of the coin.
As for explaining toning, I'm not sure what really can be said. The metal reacts with elements and molecules in the air, or in contact with the metal. Silver and iron is very bad, especially when water is added and left to sit. Gold and silver together can be bad too...it can form very complex gold-silver double bonds and a whole mess of other disastrous stuff. Pure gold won't tarnish (I know, some people say it will), chrome and aluminum don't tarnish (they form a clear oxide that won't flake away), but silver, copper, nickel, gold-alloy, etc. will tarnish, mainly in air. When it comes to coins (like the AU 53 you mention), it all really depends on how well the coin was preserved. Was it in a roll for decades? Stored in an album for decades? Buried in a jar of coins for decades? Etc. My best guess would be something like that, something that kept it out of the air until it was graded by NGC.
So long as it's in an airtight container (from the mint or one of the store-bought Air-Tight containers with the foam rubber rings), it should be just fine. There's always a chance it could still tarnish, but I wouldn't loose sleep over it (I don't over mine).
And, of course, pay no heed (usually) to those who tell you that a cleaned coin is worth melt (I'm happy to see silverwolf saying "sometimes", which is true). It all depends on what coin it is. If she's rare, low mintage, etc., even cleaned can fetch 75-100% of the market value of a non-cleaned one (Morgan dollars, for example, harshly cleaned and scratched up beyond belief...seen it happen). In your case however, unless silver goes **massive**, even if you took some sandpaper for use with metal and had at the coin, so long as it'd be identifiable, it'd still be worth the 100 CAD you paid for it. That's the beauty (I think) of such issues. Legal tender means legal tender regardless of the condition of the coin.
As for explaining toning, I'm not sure what really can be said. The metal reacts with elements and molecules in the air, or in contact with the metal. Silver and iron is very bad, especially when water is added and left to sit. Gold and silver together can be bad too...it can form very complex gold-silver double bonds and a whole mess of other disastrous stuff. Pure gold won't tarnish (I know, some people say it will), chrome and aluminum don't tarnish (they form a clear oxide that won't flake away), but silver, copper, nickel, gold-alloy, etc. will tarnish, mainly in air. When it comes to coins (like the AU 53 you mention), it all really depends on how well the coin was preserved. Was it in a roll for decades? Stored in an album for decades? Buried in a jar of coins for decades? Etc. My best guess would be something like that, something that kept it out of the air until it was graded by NGC.
