Lamination Error?

Otay did some quick research and found this information form collector's alliance:
hese Jefferson nickels minted in 1958, are utterly unique rarities. Reason being - both obverse and reverse are black.

When discovered, they were understandably nicknamed "Black Beauties" in homage to the midnight tones of this one of a kind piece.

The distinctive black finish comes from an improperly handled annealing process. Annealing is the process of heating the planchet to ready it for striking. The planchets are then placed in a large furnace warmed by gas heaters to "relax" the metal. They are then passed through a washing solution to remove tarnish, which gives the planchets (coins) the familiar "BU" (Brilliant Uncirculated) finish.

If anyone can add something to this so I can be better informed please do so.

@ Numisma Now I'm really confused I do agree with you somewhat but I would really appreciated it if anyone can shed some light on this subject because now I am confused!

BTTB, you are basically right about the "Black Beauty" nickel. I only found out about these coins in the past few months and have only done limited research about them. The only correction I have for your information is that there seems to be some certified BB's from other years (mid 50's to 1959) although I am not absolutely certain about this.

My coin, pictured above is most certainly not a black beauty. I inherited it from my parents estate and I have had it for a few years. It was stored in an old Whitman folder for an unknown amount of time. Like I said before, I'm not really into error coins but I did want to verify that this was really a lamination error. The true color of the coin is much lighter than the photo shows, this is just a result of my poor photography skills.

I intend to add a Black Beauty to my collection when I find a worthy example. They seem to run about $50 to $100.

Thank you all for your input and as you intend to do Oldephriam I intend to do the same thing. I have seen 1 or 2 certified on ebay .

Good news, I took another picture of this coin and I think it turned out a bit better this time. Which background is better, white or black?

Really nice lamination error, Oldepriam, congratulations!




Here are a couple articles on Black Beauties and they seem to only mention 1959-P JN's:

http://www.numisantics.com/gallery/...beauties.pdf


And this one (Scroll down about 80% of the way or more to find the paragraphs about Black Beauty Nickels):

http://numismaster.com/ta/numis/Art...icleId=19075

I hope this is helpful. Here is a "Black Beauty" I found recently (It really stands out when compared to regular nickels):

Sorry, please go back and try them now... my bad!

Annealed before they are struck. That softens the planchet creating less wear on the dies.