What do you think happened to this coin to cause the discoloration? I don't think it is missing it's clad layer, because the coin weighs 5.67 grams. Any input would be appreciated.
Bingo....... And Paddy I have been wanting to ask this. Your found coins tend to have a reddish haze to them. Is the soil in your area red clay? The liberated coins I tend to see around here are usually more of a grimy brownish.
Depends on different factors.. Mainly type of soil, dirt or sand and amount of time it's been buried. The 2 parks I usually detect at have mixed soil. Some red clay, loose brown dirt and black dirt.
This quarter was in a collection. Most of the soil in this area is a sandy loam type material. There are areas around where I live that does have red clay but it is usually 4-6" below the surface. Thanks very much for the comments. I agree it has to be environmental damage. I weighed the coin and it has the weight of a normal clad quarter. One thing that got my interest was that the discoloration seemed to be consistent and somewhat uniform on both sides of the coin. I think if it was treated with acid the surface would be pocketed? In short I really don't know where the coin came from it was mixed in with the coin collection.
It's extremely likely that the coin was buried at some point in time. As Paddy pointed out, it looks exactly like the clad coins I find detecting.
