it's January 13th 2010 and I'm druther this is a follow-up to my video what are those milky white spots on my silver coins and rounds first a summary of what we know milk spots are thin whitish marks visible on silver coins and rounds that have a smooth reflective surface like maple leafs Philharmonic's and various private mint rounds they're caused by the annealing process at the mint which is where the coins are baked and then cooled to prevent brittleness unfortunately a fluid left over from previous steps in the minting process which I've been told is borax can remain on the surface of the coins and become baked in milk spots are not caused by handling silver coins nor are they scuff marks scratches or the dark tarnish you see on silver that's been left exposed to air for months or years they do not appear on silver coins after the minting process nor do they grow or change over time they can't be removed by any amount of scrubbing or by tarnish removing processes or even with harsh scouring or scraping the problem is vexed silver bugs for a long time generally speaking milk spots are unsightly but don't reduce the value of the silver they can reduce the amount of premium over spot the coin will fetch however typically if a silver Maple Leaf coins sells for about four dollars over spot price one with milk spots on it might sell for three dollars over that said most of us want our silver to appear as shiny and unblemished as possible that's about where my previous video ended along with the unhappy news that milk spots are invincible happily thanks to a few fellow youtubers that conclusion is old news there are three potential fixes I'm going to explain what each one is demonstrate two of the three and link below to the channels of the youtubers who discovered them first cloudy ammonia known chemically as ammonium hydroxide this is a great biodegradable and natural though foul-smelling cleaner with many uses it's sold pretty much everywhere and is very cheap simply soaks them up with a cotton ball and polish the affected area until the spots are gone all stacker recommended this method to me I haven't tried it out myself but from what I've heard it works nicely and as a bonus also removes standard dirt and oils in addition to the dreaded milk spots second jewelry wipes which are small disposable cloths with a mildly abrasive texture and an embedded cleaning agent you can buy them at jewelry shops and some drug stores I'll demonstrate how quickly this cloth deals with the previously invincible milk spots on this maple be careful the surface of the coin is free from dirt particles which can be ground against the shiny surface even if the cloth and the coin are clean this method does leave tiny abrasions on the surface of the coin but they're only visible if you know what you're looking for and are far less bothersome in the milk spots thank you Jezebel decibel for her response video on this method great discovery hard to believe these permanent blemishes are so easily wiped off but they are third and perhaps most surprising erasers yes ordinary erasers seem to have the correct chemical structure to buff milk spots right out of the surface of the metal brand new erasers are best and the softer the better it's critical to ensure both the eraser and coin are free from dirt and anything else that might put scratches on your coins surface just erase the milk spots as you would a mistake on paper again this may leave tiny abrasions on the surface but if it does they're far less unsightly than the milk spot was if you use a soft clean eraser the coin should end up looking just like it came from the mint with no sign of baked in milk spots after each of the above methods wash the coin with warm soapy water and dab dry with a clean towel then store your silverware it won't be exposed to dirt or the air if there are three fixes to this previously unsolved problem there may be more if you find one please feel free to send a message or make a video and upload it as a response to this one i'm also linking below to two of my older videos one on how to remove the tarnish from silver and the other on how to remove dirt and other grime as a general rule if you aren't sure what you're doing do not clean coins this goes for the milk spot removal methods as well as other kinds of cleaning like tarnish removal metal cleaning products abrasive agents like baking soda or toothpaste and even washing coins with soap and water if the coin has any numismatic value that is to say value due to its minting date rarity or pristine condition never clean it the methods in this video work only for coins with milk spots and shouldn't be used except on regular silver bullion coins and rounds with little or no collectors premium in addition to thanking those who helped make this video possible I want to point out how valuable communication and cooperation are as a community of people with similar interests we came together via the free communication of the Internet to solve a problem potentially benefiting hundreds of thousands what other problems can be solved by combining communication with cooperation the combined budget for this project was about $5 and materials in a few hours of a few people's time no corporations no marketing no millions of taxpayer dollars and yet results make sure you favorite this video because you never know when those milk spots will strike and remember that silver is money and paper is debt based currency keep stacking