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 Replies: 13 / Views: 7,705 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1454 Posts |
I received my first gold coin today. I noticed it had a few small red spots/lines on it and was wondering what (natural process?) might have caused them? The spots look bright red, almost like the type of marks one would see from a magic marker, and the proof quality coin is 1/4 ounce of 24 carat gold from the country of Guernsey.
Thanks,
Jen
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3499 Posts |
traevin- Ah, a very good question. There actually was an article about this very subject published by a major museum in Austria. These red spots are actually due to slight impurities in the gold, which may just have ended up on the surface when the gold was still molten or may have been introduced to the surface to the coin by tools/ machines in the mint. A bit of moisture and/ or sulfur(as was the case of the coins stored in old, wooden coin cabinets in museums in Austria) has resulted in such a reaction.
I can totally understand your surprise at such blemishes since gold never tarnishes. Alas, even coins of the highest quality are sometimes subject to impurities and other very minute defects.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1523 Posts |
Great info Archraz.I was stumped as well.
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Valued Member
Philippines
386 Posts |
I concur with Archraz of its info on impurities on gold coins.
If it is just a slight blemish due normal dirt, a slight orange bath for about 30 minutes might remove the spot but the lines will always be there. In case you will try it, have it rinse with distilled water after and please never wipe the coin with any cloth. Light cotton swab tapping will do.
But if the spots are negligible, it is much preferable as we all know to follow rule no.1 in cleaning coins. And that is : never to clean old coins.
Do you have the obverse and reverse picture of the coin, traevin?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
3098 Posts |
Quote:
These red spots are actually due to slight impurities in the gold, which may just have ended up on the surface when the gold was still molten or may have been introduced to the surface to the coin by tools/ machines in the mint. Most likely it's copper. One of my old Kruggerands had a really visible impurity spot. Seems likely since the balance metal in krugers is copper. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
511 Posts |
I was about to say improperly alloyed copper (some pre-1933 U.S. gold has similar spots), but your coin is 24 karat.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
1454 Posts |
I had some problems uploading the image but if you go to the website for a look, you may or may not see the red. It's hard to see the blotches but they are located on the Queen's face. They're simply highly resistant to photographing under any light, not that I'm much of a photographer. http://www.photoape.com/album/photo...toID=1548837 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1454 Posts |
Also try this site. It shows the auction and a lot of pics. The gold proof is a quarter-ounce. The silver proof is one-ounce. And I think the small silver proof is one-tenth of an ounce. It's a nice set and I think I might have bought it at an AMAZING price, so red blotches or not, I'd be a fool to return it, right? Separately, the coins go for nearly $280. But this figure was taken from one of the older Krause books when gold was going for $550 and silver less than $10 so I can only guess the current value of the set. If anyone has the newest book and it includes the proof set, I'd love to know the true market value. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...220581667096 |
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Pillar of the Community
Thailand
1509 Posts |
Hi traevin
I've checked the the catalog and this is what I found:
In the latest krauss (2010) the only proof mint set for 1995 is a 4 coin set and different from yours.
The 1995 issues for the Queen Mother are valued as (bearing in mind the catalog was prepared before the dramatic rise in gold):
1 Pound (silver) km#77 = $27.50
5 Pounds (silver) km#66a = $50
25 Pounds (gold) were not issued with that date. The only issue for that year was a No Date (50th Anniversary of Liberation) est. issue 500
However! A 5 Pounds (gold) was issued in 1995 in honour of the Queen Mother km#67 = $250 est. issue 2500
That's as much as I can tell you without pics of the obverse of the 5 pound silver and 'alleged' 25 pound gold.
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Valued Member
Philippines
386 Posts |
Your gold coin is a nice one including its price of course.
Definitely there is no need for proper gold coin bath.
Congrats for your first gold coin acquisition Traevin
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1454 Posts |
Vic,
The obverse is the same in all three pics. The 25 pound gold piece looks identical to the 5 pound gold coin in km#67, including mintage. It's quite a mystery why they made a 25 pound coin with identical stats to the five pound coin and didn't include it in the book. Seems a bit odd but I'm not suspicious. The set, the COA, and the coin itself looks too good to be a fake, IMO.
Jen
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Pillar of the Community
Thailand
1509 Posts |
Probably just an oversight on the part of krauss. Not the first time. However it's a nice little set and you certainly got a bargain. Congrats.
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Moderator
 United States
23522 Posts |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1454 Posts |
SuperDave,
Thanks for the link. Oddly, they list KM67 as a 25 pound coin, not the 5 pound coin listed in Krause. I take that to mean Krause actually mislabeled the coin. You agree?
I cut and pasted the relevant info below from the link you gave me, which lists the 5 pound coin as cupronickel.
Weird, huh?
Jennifer
1995 - Queen Mother 95th Birthday
KM-77 One Pound silver Queen Mother 95th Birthday
1995 proof only
KM-66 Five Pounds copper-nickel Queen Mother 95th Birthday
1995
KM-66a Five Pounds silver Queen Mother 95th Birthday
1995 proof only
KM-67 25 Pounds gold Queen Mother 95th Birthday
1995 proof only
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Replies: 13 / Views: 7,705 |
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Posted 04/13/2010 7:35 pm
