Found this coin metal detecting. It is in pretty poor shape but looks interesting. Anybody have any idea what’s going on?
Vice job? No way to know unless youre the one who did the damage. Worth face value, if you can find someone to take that nickel
I'd guess that it was mired in muck with a Buffalo nickel. At some point the Buffalo was pried away from the muck, leaving that impression.
Well, now that's interesting. My best guess is to completely agree with @-jeffB's assessment. The incuse, backward lettering is the result of a Buffalo nickel having been stuck to that... whatever it is. It left a negative impression in the concretion. Did a second coin (the Buffalo nickel which left that impression) come up in the hole? If not, I'd go back and recheck that hole, because it looks to me as though that happened as a result of the concretion forming over time in the ground, with two coins (this mystery coin and the Buffalo nickel) lying up against one another. It would be interesting to know what's underneath that crust. Probably another nickel. Maybe it's another Buffalo. But the "backwards Buffalo" is simply a casting made of the dirt/clay the coin(s) lay buried in. A ghostly impression, in other words. I wouldn't clean the crust off, though- it's kind of cool the way it is. Then again, on the other hand, curiosity about identity of the crusty coin would get to me... PS- I'm guessing the non-crusty Buffalo nickel shown in the picture was not dug, but was merely included in the picture for context?
It would be helpful to see full photos of both the obverse and reverse. If the opposite side looks halfway normal we could tell what the coin was.
Thanks! I didn’t see anything with the coin when it was dug. I did place it there just for comparison purposes. The other side of the coin doesn’t have anything that can be recognized. Maybe I will clean it off pretty good. I am curious too!
