What's Eating George And John?

That's terrible - I've had ASE's develop waterspots after being slabbed but I still don't know how that happens.

It's the original mint packaging. Yeah I live in Southwest gulf coast of Florida.

I guess I can try acetone. If that goes my work I can try NGC's conservation dept.

I'll add that the Kennedy is not accented hair.

The lower left serif of the "I" in LIBERTY would be missing.

What is eating George and John?
MY theory is that bacteria is to blame.

Water spots as seen here, are not black like 'carbon' spots.
Carbon spots are silver / copper sulfide or Chloride, or a mixture of both.

The water spots seem to be the result of evidence that a bacterial colony was once there.
The metabolism products of bacterial action are acidic, and so the coin has stained in the area where the bacteria colony once flourished. At this point there must have been a sufficient amount of bacterial nutriments (organic) to sustain the colony.

It follows that a coin should be cleaned with acetone before it is slabbed.
I doubt very much if that happens.
There has never been any incentive for a TPGrader to clean coins before they are slabbed.

It also follows that before submitting to be slabbed, a collector should clean coins in acetone before shipping to the TPGrader.
It MAY not be all of the slabber's fault.

You should check all your coins on a regular basis so this doesn't become such a huge problem. Air tite are certainly a good option for holders.

I hope the acetone does the trick.

Yes, agree with all the above comments. No guarantee of problems "not" developing in mint or proof set or even after coins have been slabbed. Just keep an eye on them. Don't throw them in a hot attic or damp basement for years. Location! Location! Location! Environment! Environment! Environment!

Sorry!



to the CCF!

It looks for all the world like horn silver, also known as silver chloride. It often forms when silver is left exposed to high concentrations of chlorine or chloride for long periods.

It certainly shouldn't happen on coins in mint packaging that are just sitting in a cupboard, no matter what the environmental conditions are. Did you keep an opened bottle of bleach in the same closet, or something like that?