Hi, I'm a new member and first-time poster, but a long-time collector. I found a recent Jefferson nickel that looked unusual (see attached photos). The detail in the middle of both the obverse and reverse seems missing. Also, the rim is slightly thicker than a normal one (photo of edges of 2 nickels side by side; the nickel in question is on the left), and the diameter seems slightly less than a normal nickel (see photo of nickels stacked; the nickel in question is on the bottom). Is this some sort of planchet error? Perhaps some weird wear pattern? It weights 4.85 grams on a fairly accurate scale. I would appreciate it if someone could help me understand what I have. Thanks.
All I see is damage, my friend. Def Dam ! (Definitely Damage) Welcome to Coin Talk !! , the Best Little Coin Site in the known Universe, where even a damaged coin deserves an Honest Opinion ! Feel free to post photos and ask questions. We love to help !
I tried several more photos but they didn't seem any better than what I already posted above. However, I did do one without using a macro lens that shows the smoothness of the middle of Jefferson's face - it makes him look rather odd. What I noticed first (and my wife (non-collector) did too) is that the rim felt thicker than normal. Anyway, unless this photo changes minds of folks, I'm assuming that this is damage. Thanks for looking into this.
Your assessment is correct : Damage. There's no way the mint would or could do that to a coin. Please remember that in the normal day-to-day course of a coin's circulation, it goes through a vast number of hands, which may put it through a vast number of experiences, everything from normal spending and use, to squeezing it in a vise, to beating it with a hammer, to scrubbing it on a concrete sidewalk, to....etc....etc.. Your coin has experienced some of that, and only the person who did it would know exactly what was done to this coin. The only thing we here at Coin Talk !! know for sure is that : This is not a mint error.
Hello everyone my name is John and it's going to be my first post so I hope I'm doing this right so I'm replying to this gentleman here who's got this face that's kind of kind of there and not there or part of it and I'm seeing the comment saying that it's just a damaged coin I have the same coin I'm going to send it I'm going to post it hopefully to post I've got a dime like that and I got another quarter so it can't be coincidence but what do I know right