Is This 1918 D Buffalo Corroded?

Environmental damage, and likely cleaned.

Looks pretty good for a 102 year old nickel.

I think it would straight grade Good to Very Good if it was submitted.

I wouldn't want that coin.

I agree. This looks very typical to me.

Sometimes cleaning or environmental damage can be complex. We all hear the story that the average PCGS grader looks at a coin for 5 minutes even if 2-3 people review it. Any non-homogenous surfaces sometimes can lead IMO to incorrect conclusions. Also environmental damage is another classification that makes me wonder sometimes on coins particualrly 100 years or older.

https://nnp.wustl.edu/library/book/579875

I have another coin coming in shortly which is PCGS Environmental Damage. Environmental damage IMO can come about when we see high levels of sulfur or chlorides on the surface if we are either talking copper or silver. PCGS or NGC simply use 5X visual techniques. My article makes the point.

This analysis cost me $200 so I felt strongly to report these results. SEM/EDS surface analysis is costly with high end laboratories at usually $200/hour testing fees. My point here there are ALOT of 15th-19thC coins getting CLEAN or Environmental Damage tags - some may be - others may be something else.

John Lorenzo
Numismatist
New Jersey

looks like a normal circulated wear, perhaps it was in an envelope prior