Hi, I am pretty new to CRH - even though I have been interested in coins since 2007-ish (since I was maybe nine years old?), I only started looking for rarities and silver five months ago. As I was searching through my nickel jar in September, I found this bizarre-seeming coin, and was wondering what it would be graded as. Just as I have mentioned, this is a 2011P Jefferson Nickel. The strike seems pretty crisp, and the field/deepest part seems minimally scratched. However, the luster is almost non-existent, so I'm not even sure what this grade would be. I've seen matte-ish coins that receive that tone because of their extensive circulation, but the crispness of the design always shows that amount of wear as well. This wouldn't make sense to be one of the Frosty Finish nickels from 1994 or 1997, so what is the deal here? I haven't found anything about it via USA Coinbook nor my RedBook, so am I just on a wild goose chase with this coin? Please help! I included four pictures to help with this - two of solely the coin, and two of a comparison with a normal-luster nickel (the 2011P is on the left) Much appreciated, Strozzie
I usually chalk something like that up to being left out in the elements for too long. [edit to add] Oh, and welcome to the forum.........
green18, thanks for your input Your logic seems pretty sound; I was just a bit surprised at the lack of wear on the highest design points, is all. I could still easily make out Jefferson's hair details and Monticello's front steps, all of which I thought would have been eroded. But I suppose something like soaking the coin might wear off the luster without scratching the surface. Thanks again, friend!
I'm not saying this is the specific cause, but what you see here is very similar to the result of overuse of dip (thiourea) on silver. Details unchanged, luster crushed from existence. Nickel should react the same way as silver; acid is acid. It could have been an experiment along those lines, but the law of averages says it's more likely environmental in origin. We live in days when a Nickel is not worth enough to pick up off the street.
Hard to tell from the pics, but, I'd say too much detail for the coin to be damaged. Looks more like an early strike from a die that was prepared similar to a satin, maybe a mint set coin. Even though the mint no longer makes satin finish mint sets, some of the coins do look "satiny".
