I got this a long time ago and just now stumble back across it and wanted to ask if you all think the corrosion on it is from being in the ground or some other type of corrosion or something to do with lamination. It is maroon red on some of the deign and in the fields. It's a buffalo and worth less than a $1 but im not entirely sure if what im seeing is environment damage or what. Thanks for looking.
It's not an error/lamination. The "red" is somewhat common (not terribly but certainly not unheard of either) on the type although I'm not sure of the exact cause.
When I was a kid in the 50's, I used to find nickels with the same coloration on the Maryland beaches. I always assumed it was from the salt air. Chris
it's possible the salt air may have give it the maroon red appearance, the salt air gave one of my older cars the same appearance "rust" lol. Eh it's a buffalo and not going to be a one of a kind but maybe someone else might know what causes this.
Yes , this is environmental damage. My experience is with digging them from the ground while metal detecting. The soil will leach metal from the coin and considering a "Nickel " is actually 75% copper it is fairly understandable how you can be left with a range of colors from red to even purple. Your coin saw some circulation after its exposure to the corrosive environment and the high points have worn down to what is the normal color for a nickel.
