I picked up some cheap shield nickels on ebay and I thought the picture was just grainy and blurry, but when I got them the surface is very dull and strange looking. Is this the result of a bad acid wash or something? I have never seen coins like this. Any ideas how much this might lower the values? Thanks in advance for any help.
Looks like it's either been buried for awhile and subjected to an electrolysis bath or was dipped in acid.
Yeah, they look pretty ugly. The good news (if there is any) is that I only paid a couple of bucks for each one.
May well be to late but try this. Place those coins on a piece of wood on a kitchen window sill. On the inside of course. It may take several months pending how much cooking and the type of cooking done in that room but those coins may start to take on a sort of toned or tarnished appearance which would hide some of that whatever it is.
Appears to me like it could be Nic-a-date treatment. On nickel coins, the striking affects molecularly the metal of the date and the devices differently from the fields, and specific acids can etch the fields more readily, allowing the date and devices to become more apparent. Mostly used on buffalo nickels to bring back the date. If the whole coin is "dipped " into the bath for a while, the appearance is like this. Jim
Even if not correct, I like this explanation. IMO these coins should be treated as space-fillers until better ones can be purchased.
