Hello all ! While looking at my war nickel collection i noticed these diagonal lines struck into the obverse , the reverse not so defined but still there ... I'm not sure with my limited knowledge if these lines were post mint damage or not ? Any help would be greatly appreciated .
You might be thinking of wheel marks and those do not appear to be wheel marks. Are they incuse on the high points?
I agree that the lines on your coin are caused by Inproperly Mixed Alloy. When a cast block of metal is rolled out into a sheet it stretches the metal which forms into lines of slightly different densities that tone to different colors. This is were "Woodgrain" toneing comes from.
If the lines are incuse on the high points, wouldn't that mean PMD? How would an improper alloy mix cause incuse lines or "scratches"?
I'm Sorry , I should have been clearer. I was refering to the coloration lines. I think the incuse lines are planchet chatter and possibly some roller lines that were not struck out due to an incomplete striking pressure. The reverse does not have such line, the obverse does due to the high relief of Tom's bust. JMO
Starting to believe the coin could have both wheel marks and an improper alloy mixture after hearing more insight .
Wheel marks are a form of damage. There is nothing on your coin that says wheel mark. Wheel marks are not the same as roller lines or striations that were not removed during strike.
The wartime emergency mix of 35% silver, 56% copper, 9% manganese wasn’t a great mix. Your nickel will show the different tones more over time depending on environment. I love it! Sometimes the mix was even worse. Lamination mix error of mine
War nickels along with the rest of the Jefferson Nickel series are probably my favorite to collect . So many ways to collect and on a modest budget . That's quite the lamination error you have , very nice example .
Your OK, roller lines are usually fully deleted in the striking process, They, are usually found on CuNI coinage because NI is a very hard metal and it will damage the rollers when the ingots are forced down to correct thickness. Coins with roller marks usually are premium planchets, they show a very smooth surface free of major voids and defects. The lines are near perfectly parallel. Improperly mixed alloys are a bad mixture of the metals resulting in a streaky/grainy coin that kind of reminds you of a piece of wood, commonly called a "Woodie". These planchets have voids in the ingot because the metals did not mix thoroughly. They are more likely to have a void or loss of lamination. It is why I think that your coin is an Improperly mixed alloy rather than having anything to do with striations or roller marks. I am not saying it is damage but. Loss of laminations or unstruck areas/voids in a planchet do show a luster.
Mine too. Here's my war nickel set: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/completed-toned-war-nickel-set.410394/
Very nice set ! I like your 1944 Philadelphia the best . I have a 1944 S with similar toning , you might be able to see better if i had better picture taking capabilities .