It wouldn't be the size of a nickel and have a nickel rim if it was struck on a cent planchet. And 1996, would be 2.5 grams. And it wouldn't be copper on the inside, a 1996 cent planchet is copper plated zinc. Not a cent planchet.
If it had been a rare coin. It's totally ruined now. But it's not so no harm, no foul. Somebody find the clip of Jules showing the Double Eagle the collector scrubbed $200,000.00 away to keep it shiny......
Funny! But that member made only that 1 post back in 2010.. That baby.. I mean nickel should be 8 years older now.
I came here to find out about my 1974 copper nickle.but well it's real and more then one of them.im uploading my pictures now.
Upload some photos. Could be struck on a copper planchet. We do see many coins that are only environmental damage.
I am a metal detectorist whose specialty is contemporary American coins. WITHOUT EXCEPTION, every nickel that I've found and dug up, that had been in the ground for awhile, was brown, and had the appearance of a copper coin. Many of the dimes and quarters I've recovered, with an outside surface of nickel, were also brown. When I brush them clean with a small steel bristle brush (anyone need CPR?, Heimlich?... a gin & tonic?), they generally clean up to a nice, bright, shiny silvery appearance, and the bank is very happy with them when I cash them all in, for face value. If you're convinced that you have a copper nickel, place a drop of nitric(?) acid on an unobtrusive spot and see the color you get. If indeed you have struck copper, it will be greenish; nickel, more blue, black or even orangey-red. Anyone who finds me deficient on the details of this test or its possible outcomes, please put down your gin & tonic and bring us up to speed.
Simple photos would help. Even if the coin was environmental damage there are many other tests that can be done besides one that damages the coin. In the event that the coin was a copper planchet. The nitric test would remove any numismatic value the coin has.
Is it possible that the piece of metal you found fell off of some high-performance US Air Force jet? A little farther out is the possibility that it was a piece of the last space shuttle that broke up on re-entry awhile ago. That did scatter a lot of stuff over a wide area as it came down. There is another, more exotic explanation that comes to mind, but this isn't that kind of face book group.
I just came across one in my parents old metal box full of old coins. Had to be there for 35 years or more. Curious myself. Red and then a green overlay on parts of it.
The only way it can be copper, is if it were struck on a cent or dime planchet. The 75% copper that is in a nickel is alloyed with 25% nickel and the resulting amalgam is nickel colored. There are millions of nickels that look copper colored. There are very few that are actually copper. Post some photos. Most copper colored looking nickels are environmentally damaged. And some, have been incorrectly annealed, they are cooked a little longer and pick up some color. The ones that are actually copper are very rare and they will not be the same size and weight as a regular nickel (5.0 grams). Weigh your coin. If it weighs 5 grams, it's not copper.
Hey all. I was just going through some of my late Father's coin collection when I spotted this in a random plastic roll co-mingling with some pennies and pesos and other random foreign currency. When I saw it i noticed that penny is too big to be a penny and was really surprised at what I found. I found this thread researching it's value but i'm more interested in why it is copper colored. I'm not claiming it is copper or anything but I've been reading this thread and I don't have much to add other than I think it's interesting how most of the "Copper" Nickles in this thread are from 1964. Then again I'm a novice/noob and this probably happens more often than not. Just wanted to share with yall thanks for looking
Thanks for sharing. Nickels are made of Cupro-Nickel. Meaning they contain Copper. It can tone if exposed to the environment. If it were struck on a Copper Planchet intended for a Cent then it would be the same size, width and weight as a Cent. That's not the case for your Nickel
Most of the nickels in this thread are 1964 because, someone finds a copper colored 1964 nickel, they google "1964 copper nickel" and it takes them to a thread like this one where they then post their coin. Plus 1964 was a very high mintage year, many of the older discolored nickels I find metal detecting are 1964.
Just came across this coin again in my stash. It is 1964 D and I'm pretty sure my parents did not dig it up anywhere. Not something they would have been interested in doing. They did randomly save coins, why I do not know. I did just take some pictures of it to upload here. Since this thread has not been active in awhile I'm hoping there may be new insight to this anomaly.