Help With 1986-P Jefferson Nickel Reverse

I'm no expert but something happened to 'cents'. The problem is that I have never seen a nickel that has been in circulation that didn't have PMD -- and I've been looking. Now, I am not as serious about roll searching as some are but I can't believe the dings those nickels get.

So, my point is that I think it is just as likely to be a mint error as it is to be PMD and even if it is a mint error there is no way to ever really know for sure because nickels get beat up.

Have you looked at the Cherry-Pickers Guide? I don't have either volume yet but I understand that all the die varieties are covered, etc.

I'll check back to see what the experts say.

Looks like Die Deterioration to me. Notice how the coin has that "orange peel" look to it. This is very typical of a well worn die on nickels.

This is a very classic (and common) example of what happens when nickel dies wear out. Since nickel is one of the hardest metals struck throughout the world, they are expensive to make because of the operating cost of replacing dies frequently. At times the mint gets a little lazy and lets a strong die that hasn't collapsed continue making coins until the design is too mushy to use any more...this is the result.

As an aside, Guatemala makes very small half-dime size coins - they let the dies go until the design is rendered useless. This same sort of 'doubling' shows on almost all their coins of this small denomination (I believe it is their ten centavo denomination from the 1980s and 1990s). I also believe their composition is at least part nickel.

Thanks coppercoins -- I learn something new every day.