1992 Copper jefferson nickel

In my experience, yeah -- first, the acid takes off dark tarnish (leaving the coin whiter), then it starts to etch the metal, which brings out the date and other details (areas where the metal has "work-hardened" as it flows into die recesses). But leave the coin in for a longer time, and more nickel gets dissolved, leaving an alloy that's enriched in copper.

 

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For what it's worth: less peroxide and a longer wait will reduce the porous surface of a pickled nickel...but it's never eliminated. Under magnification, the coin will look 'treated'. To the naked eye, the nickels pickled in a weaker H2O2 mixture will appear nicer.

 

I wasn't suggesting the nickle was copper, I said "
copper colored" . And I also suspected some of the same hijinx going on concerning chemical reactions, dipping, and rinses of various natures. Wearing the "newbie" badge, I wasn't sure if this anomaly could be something well known in the coin world and whether its environmental, post mint damage, or a garage experiment explosion that caused it. I guess I still don't know. But it does freak out the younger grandkids when they see it. Thanks for sharing everyone!

 

By the way newcoinboy was last seen February 2016. It was nice you responded to him but make sure to check the date of thread so you won't waste time responding to a person who is no longer on CT.

Here are some of my metal detected examples of environmental damage/toning on Nickels

 

I wasn't suggesting using a strong amount of peroxide. And I wasn't suggesting leaving it in for a long period of time.
I said while vinegar with just a few drops of peroxide and the coin will probably
become more nickel colored than it is now, and probably a little whiter.

Since this is a face value nickel, there is no harm, it will be worth a nickel
before and after the process.
I would never recommend using this on coins of any value.
I did use this process myself on dateless buffaloes as an experiment
with mixed success. It brought out most of the dates, but I didn't care for the unnatural whiter color which clearly shows the coins had been etched.

 

ok am I reading this wrong 6,759 views and only 24 responses for a coin that is environmental damage/toned REALY!!!

 

For what it's worth, I got the same result with plain white vinegar, no peroxide.

Peroxide is an oxidant. It's good for reducing the color of organic stuff -- food stains and the like. Toning/tarnish on coins is already oxidized, and peroxide doesn't help with it. However, it can help acids attack some metals that they otherwise wouldn't.

If you get any salt into the mix, even accidentally (say from softened tap water), things go downhill fast. An oxidizing acid solution with chloride ions will attack nickel and copper. In fact, it'll attack gold.

 

Environmental damaged just like the OP's coin.

 

This thread started in early January of 2012.. It's bound to get that many views.

 

Aww ok that would explain slot. why is it back up 7 yrs later?

 

Because Google turns up the old threads just as easily as the new ones, and someone picked this thread to post an unrelated question.

More fundamentally, it's a usability issue in XenForo's standard layout. Suppose you've just landed on this page, and it's your first time visiting CoinTalk. How do you post something?

The Post Reply button is right there under a nice, inviting text field. Where's the Start a New Thread button? There isn't one -- you have to go up to the forum level, a different page.

With this layout, we get occasional posts on unrelated threads, but not as often as I'd expect -- I credit this to Google doing a pretty good job of finding threads relevant for a query, and CoinTalk having a broad enough selection of threads that there probably is one relevant for nearly any newbie question. If we made it easier to start a new thread, we'd probably get more new threads that really should be replies on existing ones.

I've used other forums where a thread closes a few days after it's created, or after a few days of inactivity. I like CoinTalk's policy much better. I'd rather deal with occasional necro-threads than be unable to update a thread with relevant new info, or correct a dangerous error in a previous post (especially one of my own).

 

I have a 1997 2 toned nickel in mint condition that also has a tiny hole at end of Lincolns hair, anyone know about this nickel?

 

Hi and welcome to CoinTalk.
This old thread is from 2012. I suggest you start a new thread and you must include picture. We need to see what you are referring to concerning the toning and the hole.