What caused this dime and nickel to look like this?

Any ideas what happened to these coins?
I mean what caused all of the vertical lines?

 

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Probably chemical damage.

 

they look like what is known as woodie coins, somthing that happens to the alloy of metals pre planchet fase.

 

definitely not a woodie

 

ok, learn somthing new even when your not trying. i guess.
kbabyjohnson: let the more exerinced folks anser before listening to me, i seem not to know what im talking about.

 

i don't doubt you know a lot about coins. but these had some interaction with a chemical. woddies are almost always seen in pennies. very rare to see it in other denominations.

 

they are both dark in areas...like the dime is dark in the middle of both the obverse and reverse. So could a heat of some sort caused them to "ripple" (if you will).

I appreciate all "guesses" and experienced answers. We all learn. That is what we are here for.

 

i found one in a nickel. i would not consider myself a geek, i chose the user name because thats what i hoped to be when i leave the fourm (if ever)

 

did you ever post the nickel you found. i would be interested to see it.

 

i'll try, it has some nice tonning on the front (or at least used to, now it seems if its getting coverd by a black hole) it is a nice coin over all.

 

Funny this caught my eye, I have a nickel that looks something like these two in question. Both sides of this nickel have very straight lines that are not interrupted by the design. I do think this must have been a blank planchet with straight lines before it was struck. An odd defective planchet.
Here's mine and my poor photography skills.

 

I believe your photography skills are far more advanced than mine. Nice to know there are others out there like these. Guess they will go into a 2x2 and wait and see.

 

These lines are called "die striations" which, basically, are scratches inparted onto the blank during the blanking process. They "can" occur on every denomination of copper-nickel clad coin.



The darkness of the coins could be caused by any number of conditions from annealing problems to chemical damage.

I forgot to add that these striations can be light, moderate, or heavy and generally speaking, the more dramatic, the more desireable. Of course, overall coin grade plays an important part in the desireability as well.

Here's a 1973-D IKE with light striations:

 

I insist they aren't striation marks. The coins are far too worn for that to be the case. That's why I said chemical damage.

 

Thank you 19Lyds. I remember seeing this now in another post from the past but of course can't remember which one.

 

Why?

The Geek might be wrong, but telling him he's wrong without telling him why he's wrong is wrong.

 

19Lyds, planchet striations not die striations

And in the case of the OP coin it is a combination. Corrosive chemicals have attacked the coins, and the etching has been slightly selective on the differing compositions in the alloy mix. Since these difference get stretched out during the rolling process the etching emphasizes the grain and striations.

 

Interesting, I have not seen any like that for a while.

 

thanks for standing up for me, i dont really mind being called wrong and not being told why when it comes to coins.

 

you asked for it now you'll get it.
introducing my second favorite jeff nickel!