Definitive Test For Black Beauty Nickels

I saw this one in a tellers box at the bank yesterday, and traded for a nickel I had in my pocket. I'm not sure if it's improperly annealed or if it was dug.

Your nickel looks pretty promising. By the angled pic and the obverse pic, I would say definitely. The reverse pic is different in that I see essentially no luster.

Is there any silver color poking through on any of the high points?

As to the dollar, I haven't seen that before, but I don't collect SACs. Thanks for sharing it.

Remember, to this date there has NEVER been a recorded case of a Denver mint Black Beauty, or to my recollection an improperly annealed example. It is most likely tempered by heat in a beaker on a Bunsen burner in Johnnie's high school classroom

Very nice!

That should be proof that genuine Black Beauties do indeed exist .

No shame there!

The coin on the right looks very promising for a genuine Black Beauty .

dadsoncoinhobby, Yep, Indeed it is, all the right looks, bet if you look at the cartwheel it is even a bit purplish/blue too!

Earle, interesting quarter indeed. A quick question tho, were all the quarters same date/state/mintmark or mixed date? Dark coloring, especially on a clad coin is apples to oranges in coin composition. The nickel is a solid alloy, has been since the Liberty V nickel series. The cladding is a similar but much thinner material. The effects a clad coin take on therefore when exposed to like elemental tortures are wholly different and only"surface deep" so to speak!. Source can be important here.

If I had the money and access to the proper analyzation equipment, I would myself do a science project. This would entail taking darkened coins, mostly nickels and determining how deep the darkness permeates the metal. My Hypothesis is(for all you "un-nerds" or mon-wonks), that the official "Black Beauty" as we have been portraying here is indeed a composition anomaly, and not just an annealing(tempering) error. This would have to be proven using known BB's and other "darkened" nickels (Liberty, Buffalo and Jeffersons), and basically destroying them in the name of science! Cutting in half, to determine if the color is throughout or partial. Then use test nickels that have been subjected to known elemental and physical factors(heat, chemicals). My thought is a true BB will be solid throughout, meaning actual composition, with further analytical elemental testing to determine the variances of trace elements. A theory has been presented that the overall "Bluish-purple" hue has to do with more cobalt, annealed into the mix. Prove this conundrum once and for all.