I found my first V nickel in a roll the other day...1901 (good) . Unfortunately, it's in pretty bad shape (not so good). Still, a 120+ year old coin with a little bit of design left is still a keeper to me. He'll go into a 2x2 and join the rest of the nickel family.
Yeah, I think the reason I found it is because it is so rough. To be honest, even non-collectors would probably keep it because it's different. I think the damage allowed it to go unnoticed until I found it.
I'm glad it's ended its journey with you, and not with someone who's going to go straight to YouTube for their RARE MINT ERROR...
I actually found a 1929 Buffalo as well. In pretty decent shape too. This box of nickels so far has been a pretty good one.
I found a 2001 black nickel. Can't yet post pics 'cause I'm a newbie. I know about the '58 and '59 Black Beauties and they're the official "Black Beauties." But, there seems to be a number of zinc-clad coins (nickels, dimes, quarters) for which black versions have been found. I've read that environmental damage can be a reason - heating to 400 degrees, burying - but also overheating during the lamination process for the coin metal may cause the black color prior to minting. I've heated a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter in the oven at 400 for 30 minutes and the penny turns yellow (it was a zinc penny), and the nickel, dime, and quarter turned iridescent ("rainbow"). Haven't tried burying a nickel, though. I think it may take longer than I'm willing to wait. But I'm holding on to the nickel for fun.
You can post Photos at anytime we see first time posters post their coins and then never hear from them again. Black beauties are from the annealing process/ they were cooked a little too long. Just a reminder nickels are a solid composition of Copper and nickel, unlike a clad coin which has a copper core and a nickel copper cladding added to both sides like a sandwich. The majority of modern black coins is the result of environmental damage.... Soil, fertilizers and hard water will all cause them to go dark toned or black.
@71Avalon all of the original Black Beauties were dated 58 and 59 from the Philly Mint. This is when they were coined the term. The only one that has labeled them as BB is ANACS. Everyone else labels them what they are and that is Improperly Annealed. These dark Nickels can be found all the way back to 53 in Nickels. But if any coin is left in the annealing process for too long, or too high of temp etc. They are certainly an Imp Annealed coin. And yes they should have all their original luster.
Yeah you're right now that I think about it. My slab says Improperly Annealed. I always wanted one then one popped up on eBay a couple of years ago so I grabbed it.
