Royal Canadian Mint's official position on "milk spots" on silver Maple Leaf coins

[TomD]

The following is an email letter from a RCM distributor concerning the problem. To summarize, the RCM's position on "milk spots" on their silver coins is : "Don't like it? Buy something else."

Hello,

Here is the short explanation. We just had a meeting with the Mint about this 10 days ago.

The white stains (or "milk spots") result from the planchet (flan) cleaning and preparation process. Some Silver Maple Leaf coins have them (SMLs), some do not.

This is the Mint's official position: The coins are bullion coins. They are not collector coins. They are sold as one ounce of silver. The Mint knows that there is a problem. The problem has existed since 1988, when the SML coin was first introduced. The Mint says that there is nothing that they can do about the problem.

Our experience is that some SMLs have them and some do not. We do not know what we are going to get when we open the boxes of 500 ounces of silver that come from the Mint. We have to take what we get; we can not return them. We do not have the time to sort them, etc.

We ship out what we get. Per the terms of our invoices, we do charge a restocking fee for returned bullion items.

I am sorry about the problem, but we have no control over it.

I hope that this helps,

John

John Winkelmann
ANA Life Member

Talisman Coins
Official Distributor for the Royal Canadian Mint,
for the Mint of Poland (in Warsaw),
for the Perth Mint of Australia,
and for Monnaie de Paris (The Paris Mint)

9051 Watson Road, Suite 103
St. Louis, MO 63126
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

[Apocalypto]

Just buy them for the bullion value if the price is right, otherwise pass them over. caveat emptor.

[~BS]

that **** is hard to remove as well... I've tried using coin cleaner (whizzed coins) and it wouldn't even remove the spots after a prolonged dip.

[hydro]

My local dealer puts them in with his generic silver. That is the only way I buy SMLs.

[PacificAg]

Anyone have any pictures of these spots?

[TomD]

Anyone have any pictures of these spots?\

I think I have one with the spots around here somewhere but it's not the sort of thing I usually photo. The term "milk" spots is pretty descriptive, it looks like some milk dried on the coin, a whitish haze, spots, not large areas of the coin. I'll shoot it if I run into a Maple with them.

[~BS]

^

I've had milk spotted coins that covered a large portion of the coin. I'd post pictures up, except that I just sold them monday.

[1981]

I don't know, if they can get some of the coins out w/o spots, you'd think they could get them all out w/o spots.

[TomD]

I don't know, if they can get some of the coins out w/o spots, you'd think they could get them all out w/o spots.

I'll bet it has to do with a release agent that they put on the die and that a certain number of stampings after lubing will get spots. No knowledge, just my theory.

Wonder why you never get the spots with eagles, Lunars, Kooks, Pandas, Libertads etc? What do they mean there's nothing they can do? How about doing what the rest of the world does?

[~BS]

I think those spots may actually somehow be a result of the minting process. I whizzed a coin with the milk spots 3 consecutive times for 15 seconds a piece, which did not remove the spots. So it's probably more than just "dirty" or a discoloration.

[silvermang]

Mine are milk fingerprints. But I have no way of knowing if they came from the mint or from A*mex.

[livtocruz]

Here's a picture of a 2008 reverse with a spot. It didn't show up "white" though, it has a little color to it. It's on the bottom right, on and above the "OZ". There is a little tiny black speck of dirt almost dead center. It's not on the coin but it was on the plat of my scanner.

[livtocruz]

Oh yea, if that's the RCM's official position on the CSM then why the hell is there a premium equal to the ASE for a damn (CMX) bullion round

Enough abbreviations for ya?

[AgAuGal]

I've have not bought another silver maple because of this (why can the American mint produce a silver bullion product w/o detracting milk spots). Lame response. Got mine from APMEX and have never bought again . If I buy a SML it is because I have looked at it first

[DJ1]

Slightly off topic, but I had a slabbed Franklin Proof Half that had milk spots on it. So apparently it was happening before the Canadian Maples came out. My solution was to sell it for bullion, not collector - big discount for the buyer.

[earplugs]

Probably tungsten-coated silver.

[LWK]

One member had mentioned before how to get rid of them, but I forgot who that was. Frankly, I don't really care. I still think the coins look really pretty. They are my favorites among the silver bullion coins. I also tend to buy them individually when my places get stock, so I never buy in bulk that is large enough to where I'll get a huge bad run. Definitely a coin to buy on sight if you have the option. Mainly due to getting roughed with a huge lot of badly milked maples.

1 Maples
2 Harmonics
3 ASE
4 Kooka's

[ccjoe]

I've have not bought another silver maple because of this (why can the American mint produce a silver bullion product w/o detracting milk spots). Lame response. Got mine from APMEX and have never bought again . If I buy a SML it is because I have looked at it first

It really is a waste of premiums to buy the SMaples as they DO get the milk spots. It's a shame as they are beautiful.

[Professur]

Maybe I'm strange, but I welcome seeing them. Sort of an unofficial authentication mark. After all, if you're going to fake Maples, you're going to want them as shiny and attractive as possible, no?

[PacificAg]

Thanks for the pic!

[LWK]

Another thing also, philharmonics get those spots to.

[~BS]

I acquired some maples with milk spots, if anyone is interested, I can post some high res pics.

[latemetal]

:beer1:
I acquired some maples with milk spots, if anyone is interested, I can post some high res pics. Please do, I bought a bunch that had milk spots on Fleabay and at the price I paid didn't bother crying too much. I don't pay premiums.

[budfox]

"Milk spots" :marchmellow: on the silver indeed... isn't that the year they hired Ivan Yackinoff:questionmark::sperm::omg_smile:

No, I think his name was Jack Mihoff.

[~BS]

The spots on these Maples aren't too bad. I've had some that were way worse.

Sorry if the pictures aren't too clear. I dont have a tripod.












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