So today whilist roll searching I found what appeared to be a copper electroplated 1996 D Nickel. But I figured what the hey I will try the scratch test. So I scratched the reverse for jokes and giggles, what I found intrigued me, It was copper all the way through, my problem is I immediately knew this was NOT and error coin (such as nickel struck on a penny panchelt) because they stopped making 95% copper coins in 1982. So my question is, (which I am most likely right) there are no other known examples of this year and solid copper right? And if that is true, why on earth would anyone fake a Solid copper nickel but choose a year that would be impossible to be solid copper.
I wish hobo I havn't a scale. But buy hand it feels to weigh a little more than a regular nickel but not by much
Probably shouldn't drill a hole through it It kind of looks like you scratched through the outer color to an inner color but that may just be what I see in the photo.. I hope it's not an error because the test scratch would lower the value. The weight would be nice to know. There is an error type called a sintered planchet where the outside is coper color and there is also post mint damage where any kind of coating might be applied.
http://www.cointalk.com/t143074/ This old thread at CT depicts a sintered quarter and a quarter struck on a planchet intended for another country. I'm not saying that your nickel is a mint error but you should treat it well until you know otherwise.
ouch! Well I figured it wasnt an error so scratching it would not make it worth less than $0.05 bad choice for my first error find eh?
Never, ever, scratch a coin with anything ! There are plenty of other ways to identify what a coin is made of without doing damage to the coin. Now just imagine - say that was a $1000 coin and your scratch just turned it into a $100 coin. How would you feel ?
Should of scratched the edge with a knife blade! Sure it's not just a very thick layer? I've Copper coated a few Ike's and I can get it very thick... You can electroplate with copper, and than with zinc to achieve a false gold appearance BTW...
You should never intentionaly scratch a coin, If this would have turned out be real he would have ruind the coin and it´s price tag.
Upon closer inspection I have found this to be true. I used a 10x Magnifying glass to be sure. The scratch I made is where I looked it goes through to a nickel layer, it just appeared to be copper because the variation in color. Point settled case closed.
