Seems like water damage? I think I can see some nickel peeking through on the relief but I can't see any on the edge. Maybe a combo of water damage and a relatively light nickel-clad layer? I've seen other quarters with a dark grey, almost black, layer of damage on either side, might be a related type of damage? Looks interesting. 1994 - P
Long eposure to the type of dirt, soil, sand, clay and the other elements will determine what color the clad which is made of Cupro-Nickel will turn to. Here are many examples from my metal detected finds.. Nickels are also Cupro-Nickel and can suffer the same fate
yeah I get folks coming to me with those thinking they have a GREAT error find. I hate breaking their hearts, but alas folks on cointalk don't get ALL the fun.
Those are some excellent reference points, thanks for the useful pics @paddyman98. Yeah, they're technically gross but look at the bright rust color on that 1957? Jefferson nickel in the top right of image #3, very cool. Kind of like going to a very old town in the middle of nowhere and imagining what the lives of the people that lived in those dilapidated buildings would have been like. What a pleasure to experience the other side of the collecting equation.
yes, to me it's NOT all about coins, it's the hunt, history and friends along the way. (finding a gold coin along the way wouldn't hurt nothing though)