Hi Susan, more than likely (a good possibility) your coffee pot was soaked in liquid bleach to remove stains. Bleach will eat into the glaze and eventually it will flake off. I have bought an item on Ebay where the exact thing happened. There are safer methods to clean pottery (soak using liquid developer from beauty supply stores). Bleach should never be used, yet people continue to do without knowing the consequences. The end result is a clean piece of pottery, but down the road the glaze/transfer will start to flake off. There is not much you can do. If bleach was used, you could perhaps soak it in plain water. I have never done that so I cannot help more there.