Might be a candidate for pickling. It is interesting what is still in circulation. At least to us coin enthusiasts!!
I would imagine the black scuz actually disguised it, and made it "incognito" until the good Inspector detected it.
Likewise the two times I’ve found steel cents in circulation. When they’re really rusted and nasty, it’s hard to distinguish’em from your basic corroded Zincoln.
It amazes me how many high grade early Jeffs and War nickels you find. I remember once- just once- I found an MS65-ish Gem BU 1940 nickel in a roll from the bank. This was back in the early '90s. Almost all of the other coins in the roll were new 1992-P coins. The 1940 was actually nicer than a lot of them were.
