What Is This Error Called?

two possibilities as I see it-

1)surface contamination on the coin
2)improperly mixed CuNi alloy on the reverse outer clad layer

It appears that the clad layer is fully intact so the streaks would have to be inclusions of fairly pure copper in the nickel alloy itself. I have never seen anything like this coin but I do find the date to be quite interesting. 1965 was the first year of clad coinage so it makes sense that a major alloy composition error would have a greater chance of occurring in the first year or so of production.

If the clad sheet was damaged (e.g. it got scraped exposing some of the copper), the surface may have been made flat again during rolling, allowing the copper core to be exposed in this way, giving the appearance of an intact clad layer. Or the striking force was sufficient to allow the copper to fill in the void even if the planchet had an uneven surface.

The lower left at the tip of the eagle wing seems to have flake off, and there's sign that some rough wiping on the right side of the wing.

I am guessing someone wondering if its dirt, leaving hairline scratches. I never seem a missing clad layer coin, if this is one of them, and wonder what's the thickness of the clad layer before exposing the CuNi layer?

mikediamond I'm thinking you are correct. What ever it is is not post mint damage. Would this be the same as the "woodie" Lincolns?



wert, Not able to scrape with a finger nail, looking at the copper steaks, they appear to be at the same height as the other surfaces in the design and all detail is struck up the same. I looked at it under a 16x glass while tilting the coin.



macmercury, what appears to be scratches from rub in the photo actually look like die polish marks on the coin under magnification. Looking at the rim, 1/3 towards the face side of the coin is nickel. 2/3 of the edge going right up to the top surface of the reverse is solid copper with some of the streaks merging. It does not look sandwiched like most clad coins.



biokemist6, the clad layer looks good and intact, nothing flaking. The coin was lightly circulated in 1966 when I found it.



Captain, I think this is pretty close to what I am thinking also.