Kind of confused about my new coin

I recently acquired an AU 1899 liberty nickel. Then upon some closer examination I noticed that each star had its own little area of darker toning around it and so did the face. Is this a normal occurance or something else? I'm sorry if the pictures turned out not so great, I was using my phone with a loupe on the camera.

 

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That looks like natural toning to me. The nooks and crannies tend to gather more gunk and I would expect there to be more reaction with the metal in those areas.

I will let the pros get more detailed (or correct me if I'm wrong) but my guess is that it would be expected on an AU coin. And it's very pretty!

 

I like it. Not too dark so it adds to the coin.

 

Nothing to worry about there, looks very nice.

 

Looks fine to me , as the areas around the devices are usually the 1st area to tone .

 

Sort of looks like a copper wash nickel. Can you give us a shot without the scope? What's that curl above the head? And a good shot of the date could be a rpd

 

Not to worry..........

 

No it is not copper wash. Doubtful its an rpd and I don't about a curl. Here are some pics. The photos turn out too blurry without a scope.

 

Again, not to worry.......

 

It's an 1899/8 a 36A.1 the initial logo punch was dated 18 98 then repunched an 1899. The lower loop of the 8 can be seen on the lower loop of the 9. A Breen 2564 variety type OVD R-7 cross reference FS#5c-014.5
BTW it's a late die state of this variety

 

Also there's a clash between stars 8 and 9 at the top of the head.



YOUR WELCOME

 

I do not see the die clash.

 

Wrong answer

 

edited - be nice

 

sorry, but I see cleaned, and AT

 

Thank you to everyone for their input.

 

It's cleaned and RT (Re-Toned ).

 

I don't see die clash, or the RPD...but that could be the pics...its hard to take a good pic of a coin with a phone camera..let alone with a loupe and cell phone...LOL!

Its hard to tell on the toning as well...that toning could be natural, but you can only make that assessment if you can determine if the coin's been cleaned and personally I can't tell from the pics. Its not uncommon for coins like this to have been cleaned back before cleaning was a bad thing. The toning could be caused by that cleaning.

 

Does that heavily detract from the coins value?

 

It would be more valuable if it wasn't cleaned. It might not "grade" for it, that's the thing. "Cleaning," though, is collectable. Don't let anyone tell you different. It's a matter of degree and the effect of the cleaning on the surface. The effect on the surface is irreversible, that's why we don't clean. Ah, that said, some cleaned surfaces are more bouncy that others. Most, however, are just plumb dead, the cleaning sucked the life out of the coin.