How do you know if you have a black beauty coin. I found this one in a roll of coins, so I was wondering how one determines if you have a black beauty or it is environmental damage.
Environmental Damage The entire surface, Obverse and Reverse should be Annealed Improperly. I see areas of his cheeks and hair thats a lighter almost nickel color than the dark areas. Monticello is also lighter than the rest of the field.
Since all nickels (with a WW2 exception) are 75% copper and only 25% nickel, AND since copper is a highly reactive metal in the company of moisture and a non-neutral pH, the VAST beyond VAST majority of dark nickels are going to be environmental damage. Creating a dark nickel is close to a no-brainer. That said, there do exist some improperly annealed nickels, and usually those will be found because their darkness is NOT accompanied by other indicia of damage. Yours does show other indicia.
if u search ebay for graded black beauties you'll notice that the color is very even and the coins show luster, yours is uneven color and dull....
