Kind of a terrible picture, but for those of you nickel collectors out there, what do you think of Black Beauties, aka improperly annealed planchets? I've only ever found 2 or 3 of these until today. Those 2 were a 1959 and a 2022-D, possibly a second 22-D. I've searched quite a few boxes. Today, however, I found 4 of these in one box. 3 were 2022-D's, and one was a 21-D. Amd they all have one thing in common: a VERY weak strike while still showing no wear on Jefferson's nose. For question 2 (of 2), how many, if ant, of these have you found roll hunting?
They look gold toned. I have rolls of nickels, cents, dimes and quarters. They have never been searched. The rolls are bank wrapped. I have 2 bank boxes of each of the Lincoln cents that I just rediscovered in my hoard, all still as shiny as the day they were minted.
IMHO, Black Beauties should be a description reserved for Improperly Annealed Planchets from the 1950's and 1960's. The more modern Improperly Annealed Planchets look nothing like those earlier dated nickels. Here are a few from my collection Modern - Usually an uneven annealing Earlier Dated - Fully Annealed
That's how terrible my pictures are. In person, they look dark gray while still having mint luster. I really do need a lesson in photography. All 3 of those are definitely cool, especially the 1959 which appears to be the "blackest beauty" of 'em all. The 2022-D's seem to be the second most common date for improperly annealed planchets from my findings, likely at least several thousand exist. Possibly the main difference between earlier and later dates may be the striking, as 22-D IAPs have incredibly weak strikes.
