What is going on with surface of this 1930 Buffalo?

IMO, so far the colors of the coins you have posted are ugly and only lower the eye appeal of the nickels. Take a look at the "rainbow" on OP's nickel.

 

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But that was in response to TJ1952's comment about "old blue Whitman";

No! That would take the luster off first. That coin has luster on the top and bottom of those waves.

 

Thank you for posting that. As can be seen, that coin is totally devoid of shine or luster and has not been etched nearly as much as the OP's coin.

 

True, but those were the result of poor post-etching practices.
If one was to do this skillfully... Who knows what could happen haha

 

I really enjoy this. Insider you a very cool guy and are fun to debate back and forth with. Here is an image I just made to show how the "luster" from the original un-affected surface and the affected area with the striations is continuous and uninterrupted. It is more difficult to see and convey using an image, but under a strong loupe, it is plain as day. The "luster" in the striated areas is not just reflections on the metal. Luster is the microscopic ridges in the surface of a coin running from the center to the rims caused by the metal being squeezed by immense pressure and forced to flow from the center out to the rims. It's why an uncirculated coin has a cartwheel effect. I know you know this, and I want you to know that I know this.

I'm glad that @hotwheelsearl chimed in with the vinegar comments. As that is where I was going next. We have all seen what a dateless buffalo looks like that has had vinegar or nic-a-date applied to it to reveal a date. The area affected has a flat dull look compared to the surrounding area. One would expect that the affected area of the coin that is the subject of this post to have a dull nearly lifeless look to it had it been etched by acid or some other form of corrosive post strike. But that dull lifeless look is not present here. The peaks and valleys of the affected area have exactly the same qualities in the as do the surrounding un-affected surfaces. If you could examine this coin and move it around under high powered magnification, you would see that the "luster" is uninterrupted from at the transitional areas.

Here is the image to try to see what I see.

 

That did not work. The image above has been resized by uploading. Let's try this..

 

A wire wheel on a high speed dermel tool. Sorry but this is man made damage.... pmd. This is what I expected I wanted to see what others said, and I also asked a jewelry friend of mine. He said ask how many they want and give me some unc. Buffalo's and I'll make them.

 

I am glad I am not the only one seeing that luster.

A wire wheel would leave a bunch of parallel scratches of some length. Your "lines" have globules of various sizes throughout the affected areas. It makes the surface appear as though it had been remelted after striking. I wonder if someone might not have used a laser on it melting the surface.

 

jtlee321 posted: "I really enjoy this." me too! "Insider you a very cool guy"
"...and are fun to debate back and forth with. Here is an image I just made to show how the "luster" from the original un-affected surface and the affected area with the striations is continuous and uninterrupted." As a reflection from a metal surface should be (only different due to the different surfaces). "It is more difficult to see and convey using an image (I see it in your photo) but under a strong loupe, it is plain as day."

"The "luster" in the striated areas is not just reflections on the metal. Actually, it is. See comment below. Luster is [caused by the reflection of light from] the microscopic ridges in the surface of a coin running from the center to the rims [in a RADIAL direction] caused by the metal being squeezed by immense pressure and forced to flow from the center out to the rims. It's why an uncirculated coin has a cartwheel effect. I agree. I know you know this, and I want you to know that I know this.[/QUOTE]

Now here is the "rub." There is luster on the entire coin. As you have posted, radials go out from the center to the edges. Note that the striations in the center of the head and the rest of the coin ONLY GO IN ONE DIRECTION - up and down! Therefore they were not caused by the strike. IMO, they are "relics" in the interior of the planch strip occurring as the strip was pulled/stretched in the finishing mill at the mint. They have been exposed in that orientation on the surface and appear as they do because of the action of the chemical on different areas inside the planchet.

 

Doug I agree, the jeweler friend I asked has been in the business for 40 plus years! He even made our wedding rings. He can do anything with medal, stone, horn, bone, wood, you name it I've seen him carve. Ivory,whales teeth.
He's an amazing artist. He knows everything about medal.
Including making alloys no matter again any medals known to man.
And it's funny as his reply was you can't figure this out?
In his line of work he often uses texture in his pieces . And again he said how many times have you seen me use a wire brush to give a satin finish? And he added you know there's polishes that will restore luster to said finishes.

 

How do you explain how the "wheel" did not touch parallel and adjacent areas of relief and field? I assure you that someone did not take a small Dremel wheel and buff up particular areas in a curve from the rim through the feathers and on to the head. But then I was not there.

Perhaps it was Paddy's jeweler friend.

 

At the magnifications we apply as a matter of course when imaging coins, the results of wire-wheeling any coin would be immediately obvious.

Justin, you got a spare Buff and a Dremel?

 

Just going on instincts, the area in question does not look natural to me.
Something caused that to happen post mint.
Whether it is AT, cleaning or something unknown, I would be surprised if this straight graded. The seller prob took it out of a details slab.
It is a nice looking coin. But it is a common date Buffalo. It would have to be slabbed MS-63 at that price.

 

What's next? At least we can all (?) agree on PMD. Bye.

 

LOL.. This may be just like the "How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop" question. The world may never know.

 

Just ask insider he knows everything !

 

Insider was Mr. Owl in the commercial..

 

Look what you've gone and done @jtlee321.

Come on, you're looking a photo, not the coin.

Send in it and slab it. Let us know the results.

 

No this is insider just ask him