2004 nickel with stripes?? what is it??

Hey everyone,

while searching some bank rolls I came across this nickel which I almost tossed back until I took a closer look. At first I though it was just scratched up and post mint damage but upon closer inspection it looks as though this happened during the minting process as there is not any marks on the rim of the coin. It definitely appears to have a weak strike is some areas including the date and IGWT.

If you have seen this before please let me know what it is! Is this worth grading or certifying?
THANKS!
J

 

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A few more shots...

here are some closer pics...
thanks!
J

 

that reminds me of the lines you can somewhat see on a canadian maple

 

Hmmm I am not familiar with the Canadian Maple so I can't tell you if it is similar or not. It appears that possibly the planchet was damaged before striking? I still can't seem to find any info on this so anything would be helpful. Not sure why the other pics all turned up small but i'll try one more here and hope it is bigger...
Thanks!
J

 

I wish I had an answer to what this is.....but IMHO it was in the platchet before striking. The lines are a bit to even and seem from what I can tell from the picture to be in the blank not added or done after mintage. It's a very cool find!

 

It appears to me to be streaks from the cleaning the planchet gets before striking. See what others say.

 

since the pictures are showing up small here I uploaded them to my flicker page if you want to see larger pics... http://www.flickr.com/photos/7643884@N03/3850876212/in/set-72157620791049550/

Thanks!
J

 

It wouldn't be the planchet because the strike would have obliterated them. If it was done during minting it was on the dies, as in scratching due to an abrasive. To me it looks just like the lines a vending machine leaves on smaller coins.
Guy~

 

Looks like it was on the planchet before striking. The lines are wider where the strike is the heaviest.

 

Wow. That's quite a mystery. I've seen machine parts worn in a similar fashion, but then it begs the questions: 1. Why aren't the raised parts of the coin all worn off? and 2. How is it that the field's striations are just as deep as the design's? I also noticed that the rim doesn't seem to have the same wear pattern at all. Really odd.

 

yeah this one is a mystery to me so far... the rim does not show any sign of the stripes. Also the stripes are going the same directon and are not quite as apparent on the letters of the coin, but do obviously show up on the design... weird!

 

I can't tell from the pictures if the lines are raised but since they seem to be the same in the fields and the devices I am going to assume they are not raised and are actually the result of bifferent colorations in which case what you are seeing is the stretching of a non-homogenous alloy during the rolling process and the differeing alloy bands have toned differently.

 

Possible lathe marks
JC

 

Lathe marks would be circular.

 

You can't see them on the rim due to the rim being formed around the edge I bet if you got a closer look at the rim you would see some of the same patterns. would love to put this under a scope to get a closer look!

 

First off thank everyone for trying to help with this!

When looking at them under the scope they don't appear raised, but when you are looking at it with the bare eye they do appear to have a raised affect. I have taken some closer pictures at about 200x so maybe you can confirm this. I am no metalurgist but I assume the short version of that is I have a strange planchet error?

Ask and thou shalt recieve - I have attached 4 more pics which are all at about 200x magnification. I have not had a chance to closely examine the entire coin but it there does appear to be a few areas around the rim which appear to have the same striped pattern. I dont know if you can see from these pictures but some areas of the inner rim even look to have little chip marks out of it where the lines connect, although that may just be circulation damage, like I said I'll examine it more but just wanted to get a few other pics out there for you guys to check out.

here is a link to bigger pics if these turn out small again... http://www.flickr.com/photos/7643884@N03/?saved=1


Thanks again!!
J

 

Thanks for posting the 200x pic's I though if scoped you see the same pattern on the rim. I only wish I had a idea of what this is...... I still think it was on the plachet before coining took place. As to what it is ???? but very cool....

 

well I looked over the whole coin and found a few interesting areas where the stripes seem to randomly end or just have clear spots in the middle. Also found a die crack on the F in US of A. Few more pics attached.

So I guess if we can't figure it out here, does anyone know which grading company may be best to figure out what this is? Secondly I guess it depends on what the error may be but is it worth certifying/grading??
THANKS!
J

 

I say planchet pretty cool though.
Bob

 

I would send it to Mike Diamond. His fees are very reasonable.