Makes me think it was a piece of jewelry that someone was trying to solder at one time. That metal looks to be laying on top of the coin in my eyes instead of in the coin. Looking to see what others say
The details appear to be too sharp for it to be solder over the devices. It looks like it could be a silver fragment. Note the curvature between the "E" & "D" like it could be a remnant from a planchet strip. Chris
It has to be some sort of metal instead of jewellery damage otherwise PCGS will not slab it. It's hard to tell by photos just by the color. Some experts might be able to tell by the refraction of the light of how metal reflects but it would be difficult to tell from just a couple of pictures. Might be silver, might be aluminum, might be nickel, who knows.
This doesn't look like a struck-in or a rolled-in object. There is no fissure surrounding the metal and it appears that it might dive beneath the surface. It's most likely an intrinsic metallic inclusion. These usually represent globules of unmixed metal that are normal constituents of the alloy. So I would pick nickel. If it is pure, elemental nickel then it should be attracted to a magnet. However, if there's a significant amount of copper blended in, then that would weaken or eliminate the magnetic attraction.
I think nickel is a definite possibility. Try 1827, but the process was expensive. Better processes existed by 1846. Pattern coins began in aluminum were first made at the Mint in 1866. They toyed with the idea of aluminum coins in the 1870's for redemption of fractional currency. In 1884 the Washington Monument was finished with a 100 oz pyramid capstone of pure aluminum, the largest piece of aluminum in existence at the time. In 1885 at least four complete proof sets, cent through double eagle, were struck in aluminum. In 1886 the Hall-Héroult electrolytic process for producing aluminum was developed and it went into commercial production in 1889 resulting in the rapid reduction in the price of aluminum.
thanks for the feedback/comments! If it were Nickel, would be attracted to a strong maget through the slab? I think we have an electromagnet on the local campus - so I'll see if the coin is attracted to that. Of course I'll update after the little experiment.
Be interesting to know if it was magnetic robbudo. Pure tin looks like silver too. The resistance of the metal can be measure without harming the coin. I use super magnets from the inside of old harddrives to test for magnetism.
