How Can You Tell If It Is Nickel Plated - Finland KM37

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Author	Replies: 6 / Views: 3,712
weavus135 Pillar of the Community United States 539 Posts	Posted 11/14/2010 7:08 pm Hi, I have another question. I have several Finnish coins that have types that are iron and some that are nickel plated iron. the problem is I cannot tell them apart. I'm pretty sure they are not nickel plated as those are a whole lot more valuable but how can I tell. Hey, maybe I got really lucky. I've put one example here. some of them are pretty obvious, no real shine or luster and lots of corrosion.Krause lists them with the exact same weight. So how does one tell the difference? Report this Post to the Staff

canadanz Valued Member United States 273 Posts	Posted 11/17/2010 8:16 pm That's a very good question. I collect Finnish coins too and have been unable to figure it out (haven't really researched that much though). For those that are interested, the coins affected by this are: KM #36 1953 Markka, Iron, 1.15g, 16mm F 0.15 VF 0.35 XF 1.00 UNC 7.00 KM #36a 1953 Markka, Nickel-Plated Iron, 1.15g, 16mm F 5.00 VF 8.00 XF 15.00 UNC 25.00 KM #37 1953 5 Markkaa, Iron, 2.55g, 18mm F 0.20 VF 0.35 XF 3.00 UNC 10.00 KM #37a 1953 5 Markkaa, Nickel-Plated Iron, 2.55g, 18mm F 75.00 VF 125.00 XF 200.00 UNC 300.00 As you can see, knowing if you have a nickel-plated iron coin would be very nice (especially if it is a 5 markkaa coin). Anyone have any ideas? Report this Post to the Staff
-JJH- Valued Member Finland 79 Posts	Posted 11/23/2010 05:51 am This is indeed a difficult issue. IIRC Standard Catalog does not take into account different variants, that have been identified by Finnish collectors and Finnish numismatic societies. There are two different die varieties of 5 Markkaa KM37/37a coin: http://koti.mbnet.fi/jm78/5markkaa/5mk1953.html This page is in Finnish, but short translation: I = minted 1952-1953 II = minted 1953-1962, all known nickel-plated iron coins are variant II ! This first check can be done fairly easily - next step is to determine if the coin is nickel-plated or not. In most cases, nickel-plated coin has more bright 'silver' color, when compared to easily oxidizable iron which in most cases is more 'greyish' in color. It also helps, if you have several similar plain iron coins available for comparison. Then if the 1953 5 Markkaa coin seems to be correct variant and it seems to be nickel-plated, then one has to guess if the coin is genuine nickel-plated or is the nickel-plate done afterwards....... In Finland, if one thinks that he/she may have a nickel-plated 1953 (1 or 5 Markkaa) coin, the only 'sure' way to authenticate the coin is to contact Finnish Numismatic Society and/or Holmasto auction house. Hope this helps. -JJ- PS. you'll face similar problems with 5 Markkaa coin from year 1946 - same dies, but one minted in aluminium-bronze and the other in brass. Report this Post to the Staff
canadanz Valued Member United States 273 Posts	Posted 11/23/2010 11:40 am Thanks for the great reply JJH Report this Post to the Staff
weavus135 Pillar of the Community United States 539 Posts	Posted 11/23/2010 1:17 pm hm, well I'm not sure I want to send my coin on vacation to Finland but maybe I need to. I do not have a lot of them. I have 2 of the coins. One is clearly more grey and the other is quite shiny silver. I would like to think I have a nickel clad one. Report this Post to the Staff
gxseries Pillar of the Community Australia 3831 Posts	Posted 11/26/2010 04:05 am Chances are if you see rust, it should be just iron. Nickel plated iron should prevent rust and the color should be a lot brighter. It's like comparing silver versus steel. My partial coin collection http://www.omnicoin.com/collection/gxseries My numismatics articles and collection: http://www.gxseries.com/numis/numis_index.htm Regularly updated at least once a month. Report this Post to the Staff
weavus135 Pillar of the Community United States 539 Posts	Posted 12/01/2010 1:52 pm the brighter part is very clear on the two examples. however, the rust thing has me curious though. Wouldn't a nickel plated coin rust if the coating was nicked just the same as the iron ones. And if you have no rust at all on an iron coin but it is dull could it be a nickel coated one with normal wear? Report this Post to the Staff
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