Quote: Okay so this was really weird... I swear somebody did a coin dump. I found SO many near BU 1959 cents.
Could have been me.
A lot of OBW rolls look this ugly when cracked. When I crack and see a bunch of those spots, I know that roll is doomed. I don't think I've ever pulled 1 good coin from a crappy roll unless it toned nicely and I can forgive the spotting.
Quote: These colors are consistent with metals found in other parts of the used shellcases, especially the primer materials, but I've never seen a definitive XRF assessment of a "shellcase" Cent to be sure.
I would have loved to provided that XRF data. The best method would be by using an SEM-EDXRF system. It's much easier to control the source beam location with the microscope and we can area average on the fly.
The issue for me was always that the analysis takes too much time on a $300+k instrument. I hate back logging work for my entertainment. lol
Quote: The luster is all there, but I see bag marks galore, unattractive toning, etc. The zincolns that I've opened all have the "carbon dots" or moisture droplet marks.