This nickel has an even, crinkly finish, like a very delicate foil was even more delicately crumpled. Definitely isn't glossy or matte, but is also definitely not merely roughed up by outside forces. Even the side of the edge/border is crinkled all the way around. It reminds me of a finishing style I've seen used on cheap metal objects...perhaps similar to the surface of a piece of metal pipe for plumbing? Tomorrow, I'll try rotating the coin by a quarter-turn and re-scanning to see if the light hits it any better for showing it. There's a line (more of an implied line) on the reverse as if the light hits from slightly different angles on the different sides of the line. Meanwhile, I'm hoping someone will have an educated guess about what might do this to 100% of a coin's surface.
You didn't have to, but I sure do appreciate that you took a moment to do so. I wondered about chemical exposure. Dipping would explain the divided look, with crystalization going different directions as it was dipped first from one side, then from the other. I won't try to guess the motivation of the dipper. The reason I posted it here, rather than in Errors was the off-chance it might be a new finish the mint was experimenting with. If a few had accidentally been released into circulation, it wouldn't be an error coin; it would be a variety (pure speculation on my part). Besides, I don't think I've posted outside of the Error section before!
