and again sorry ! masters ! masters is a compliment thank you but when I look at the coin in hand it is perfectly visible and very smooth and I am not against your observation its just I don't get very good pictures with a flat bed scanner and masters is a compliment in my book and thank you thank you for all help
Looks like the discoloration is from environment as the alloy used for nickels and the outer clad layers on dimes, quarters, and halves are susceptible to environmental damage also resulting in a darker appearance. Unless you are getting them from mint bags or rolls it would also be hard to know exactly what its been exposed to during its circulation and would no longer have some of the mint luster.
Black beauty nickels can happen from the mint and seem to be the result of improper annealment, the process by which planchets are heated to prepare them for striking. It seems these nickels were left in the furnace a bit too long, producing a darker color that can range from gunmetal gray to jet black. Some also think they may have an improper alloy mix. Improper annealment can be found in all denominations actually, but 1959 nickels are particularly known for this error.
Also Denver coins as you have there apparently are not usually found with improper alloy mix.
There is nothing in the minting process that would make a coin look like this so it has to be post mint damage.
Almost all odd coins you find in circulation will be post mint damage. Coins spend very little time at the mint being made where relatively few errors can happen. However coins can spend up to a century or more being tossed around and beaten up an almost infinite number of ways when circulating. The concept that every odd looking thing might be a valuable coin error wastes a lot of time for people and gives them a lot of disappointing replies. This relatively new "fad" is due to so many non-error coins being put on ebay and click bait youtube videos. Funny colors, most weird marks, dents, missing letters, splotches, discolorations, etc. are typical of damage and not collectable errors.
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Posted 12/16/2023 3:34 pm
Looks like it's spent some time in a corrosive environment.
